


how oddly things develop (a HPSLAU prequel)

by BatWingsandBlackCats



Series: Hufflepuff Seeker!Laura AU [3]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Gryffindor!Danny, Hollstein - Freeform, Hufflepuff seeker!Laura AU, Hufflepuff!JP, Hufflepuff!Kirsch, Hufflepuff!Perry, Ravenclaw!Carmilla, Ravenclaw!LaFontaine, hufflepuff!laura, it's pretty damn fluffy, prequel to the HPSLAU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-06-05 14:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6707626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatWingsandBlackCats/pseuds/BatWingsandBlackCats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Prequel to the Hufflepuff Seeker!Laura AU</p><p>Laura and Carmilla strike up an odd friendship over the course of Laura's fourth year that may develop into something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sorting Ceremony

**Author's Note:**

> Hey you wonderful people! It's been a while, I hope everyone's doing okay. 
> 
> Here's a project I've been working on for a while in between hammering out notes for a couple other fics, and working on TDIRAU. The Hufflepuff Seeker!Laura AU is getting a prequel!! One of the reasons why I wrote this was to lay out the groundwork for Hollstein in the main series and to give them some history to go back to because they're already together in the main series, and I've had a lot of fun writing it. I've written about seven chapters already, so I'm hoping that I can stick to a weekly schedule (posting every Saturday) for this (my life is pretty turbulent though at the moment, so I'm sorry for any delays that might occur.)
> 
> This first chapter takes place during Laura's first year (Carmilla's second year), but the rest take place during Laura's fourth year.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you guys enjoy!! Comments are always very, very much appreciated, and if you'd like you can swing by my Tumblr too! (I have some pretty extensive notes for this AU, and there's a lot of details that might not show up in the series, so if you have any questions, drop me an ask!)

Laura Hollis was quaking in her shoes.

The tiny witch was standing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts for the _very first time._ She remembered her mum telling her about it, describing the enchanted ceiling that always reflected the sky outside, and the four massive tables along with the staff’s table at the end of the room that looked to be at least a mile long each to the tiny first year. Her mum always said that the two massive fireplaces, one on each side of the Great Hall, would dwarf her giant of a father, and she was right. Laura was in awe of just how _big_ Hogwarts was--because _holy crapsticks_ this place was _huge_ \--but most of all she was in awe of how beautiful the castle was. The stone walls reminded her of the walls back home at the cottage, and while they had a few photos around the house that moved, and one painting that could be rather talkative, she’d never seen so _many_ all in one place, even if she’d only gotten a glimpse of the paintings that resided among the stairs on the way in. The fires that crackled in the fireplaces were massive and roaring, and seemed to have a certain spark, a certain glimmer that their fires at home never had, and Laura was enchanted. When she looked up again at the ceiling, she finally noticed that hundreds upon hundreds of candles that floated in midair--she wasn’t sure how she missed them upon first glance, but she’d been so taken by the enchanted ceiling’s reflection of the stars that she really wasn’t surprised--and the light from all the little flames and the torches along the walls reflected off the golden plates and goblets that neatly ran up and down each table, making them glitter.

Hogwarts was everything she had ever imagined and more, and Laura simply couldn’t take it all in.

It also wasn’t helping that Laura’s mind was currently racing about what house she’d be put into. 

Laura shook herself from her thoughts and focused again on Headmistress McGonagall as she continued calling up the first years one by one to be sorted. She smiled widely when she saw JP Armitage, the friendly yet quiet boy she’d met on the train, walk up to the stool. They’d wound up in the same compartment, and had become fast friends. Or at least, Laura hoped. It’d be nice to already have a friend on the first day. 

JP took a seat, and the Headmistress placed the Sorting Hat on his head. The Hat sprung to life, causing JP to jump in surprise.

“Well well....” The Hat began thoughtfully, it’s face crinkling in concentration. “sharp as a tack, this one...well-read for such a young age, certainly an innovative thinker...though...hmm...” The Hat paused for a moment before straightening up, and bellowing, “Hufflepuff!”

JP grinned as he hopped off the stool, and trotted off towards the Hufflepuff table once the Headmistress had taken the Sorting Hat off his head. 

Laura smiled as she watched him go. Maybe she’d be in Hufflepuff too. She was sure she’d find her place in any of the houses, but it would be nice to be sorted into the same house as JP, to already know someone and maybe have a friend. She’d wondered for years now what house she’d be in. Her mum had been in Gryffindor, but she’d always told Laura that she’d be proud of her no matter what house she was sorted into when the time came. The first year’s mind continued to race about what house she’d be placed in as she watched the other first years before her get sorted, going through the traits of all the houses in her head for the thousandth time that night, and weighing them all as she tried to figure out which would best suit her.

Carmilla Karnstein glanced up from the tattered paperback that sat in her lap as she sat at the Ravenclaw table, and rolled her eyes after lazily scanning the gaggle of first years. She remembered being nervous as well, but it was just boring being on this side of the Hat and watching. She turned back to her book with a sigh. She just wanted the Sorting to be over already so the food would appear. She hadn’t eaten anything except for a pumpkin pastie and a few chocolate frogs from the lunch trolley on the train, but that was hours ago and her stomach was protesting. Her brother, Will, was one of the first years to be sorted, but that honestly made it more boring. She really couldn’t care less as long as he didn’t get sorted into Ravenclaw too, she saw enough of him at the manor and she didn’t think she could deal with seeing him every day at Hogwarts as well. She wasn’t too worried though, he was more the Slytherin type. The sorting wasn’t going any faster so the second year tuned out the  
Headmistress’ voice and continued on reading with a sigh.

“Laura Hollis!” Headmistress McGonagall called after glancing down at the scroll in her right hand.

Laura’s eyes widened, and she gulped as she moved forward through the dwindling group of waiting first years, and took a seat on the stool, her small, shaking hands hidden by the sleeves of her robes. 

Carmilla looked up from her book again, eyes curious this time. She knew that name. She didn’t know from where, but it was familiar. With the way Maman read the Prophet, that was probably where she’d seen it. Carmilla closed her book, keeping her place marked with her finger, and continued to watch the tiny first year be sorted.

“Mm, yes, yes, yes....” The Sorting hat drawled thoughtfully as it sat atop Laura’s head. Laura bit her lip and looked up, staring at the underside of the squirming brim of the hat. “I remember your mother...you’re very much like her...quite the sense of bravery you possess, plenty of compassion as well I see, just a smidge of deviousness, though far outweighed by loyalty,” The Hat muttered to itself as it deliberated for a moment.  
“Hufflepuff!!”

Laura grinned and hopped off the stool, practically bouncing down to the Hufflepuff table after the Headmistress took the sorting hat off of her head. On her way down, she caught sight of a curious Ravenclaw looking her way. She smiled immediately, and offered a little wave before trotting halfway down the Hufflepuff table and taking a seat next to JP.


	2. Madame Malkin's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you all like chapter two, it's a bit longer than the first, and Hollstein actually starts to interact, haha. This chapter takes place a few weeks before Laura's fourth year, and every chapter from here on out will take place during her fourth year as well. Comments are always very much appreciated, I'd love to talk to you guys!
> 
> also just a reminder I have an AU page going for this AU [here](http://batwingsandblackcats.tumblr.com/tagged/HPSLAU) where you can find all update posts and aesthetic posts, along with anything else pertaining to this AU.

“Dad, I’ll be _fine_ ,” Laura insisted, “Diagon Alley is safe, things aren’t like they used to be, remember?”

Laura’s father gave her a playful look. “Kiddo, you’re not even old enough to remember when Diagon Alley was dangerous,”

“History of Magic covers some of the last war,” She shrugged, and then a mischievous grin spread across her lips. “and did you just admit that Diagon Alley is safe?”

Laura’s father sighed, and glanced around the alley. Everything _did_ seem okay, and he would only be across the street. “I suppose I did, didn’t I? Alright, Pumpkin,” He nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly. “you get your robes, and I’ll go and get your books, sound okay?”

Laura nodded excitedly at the prospect of doing something on her own. That didn’t happen very often away from home, except for when she was at Hogwarts. 

“You have your wand with you, yes?” Her father asked worriedly, his eyes darting down to the little leather sheath he’d made for her after she’d gotten her wand before first year. 

“Yeah, it’s right here dad,” Laura said, patting her belt. “I’ll be fine, I promise. Madame Malkin is always nice,”

“Alright then,” he nodded, “I’ll see you in an hour right out here, okay?”

Laura nodded, smiling. “Okay, see you!” She gave him a quick hug and then trotted across the street to Madame Malkin’s, a small pouch of coins in hand. 

Laura had always liked Madame Malkin’s. The shop was always warmly lit with flickering oil lamps, and fabric hung from the ceiling, draped over the exposed beams in great swaths, creating the illusion that the shop was really some massive tent. Self-rotating racks were set up all across the floor of the shop, and each was stocked with dozens of robes made from all sorts of fabrics, some enchanted to be self-mending, fire resistant, or self-ironing. Sometimes all three. One corner of the store housed every kind of traveling cloak imaginable, another, all sorts of gloves ranging from dragon hide gloves to charmed leather gloves, and another section was dedicated to dress robes. Madame Malkin herself was a cheerful, plump witch who always seemed to be dressed in mauve robes with her curly hair piled on top of her head and small, delicate glasses perched on her nose, constantly bustling about the shop as she tended to each customer with a warm smile. 

Laura pushed open the purple painted door with the huge set of brass scissors hanging overhead, and smiled when she heard the small bell tinkle over her head. 

“I’ll be with you momentarily, darling!” Said a voice somewhere among the racks of robes. 

No rush!” Laura called back, and began to wander around the shop, looking at all the different robes and running her fingers over the different textures. She eventually found herself near the fitting corner, a small part of the shop that was partially screened off for fittings. She paused, still hidden among the robes, when she saw that someone, a girl, was standing there waiting, leaning against the wall. 

The girl looked bored out of her skull as she stood there, silently picking at her nails that bore remnants of chipped black nail polish. She was dressed in a pair of jeans that had seen better days, it seemed, heavy, scuffed black boots, and a black teeshirt. her dark hair fell in slightly unruly loose curls around her shoulders and in her eyes, and a bundle of books sat at her feet along with another small package that was wrapped in brown paper. 

Laura knew this girl. She’d seen her around school for the last few years. She’d seen her for the first time during her sorting, four years ago. Carmilla, or maybe Mircalla? No no, it was Carmilla, Laura remembered LaFontaine mentioning her once or twice the year before, both being Ravenclaws and all. Laura never had any classes with her since she was a year under Carmilla, but she saw her at mealtimes, and in the halls. She’d always been curious about her. The Ravenclaw didn’t seem to talk to many people, and if Laura wasn't mistaken, usually ate alone with her nose in a book. Laura didn’t really get why. LaFontaine said that she was usually sarcastic and rather rude and abrasive--though they did find her sarcasm hysterical sometimes--but Laura just thought she looked a little...sad. Maybe lonely. Laura wasn’t really sure though. For all she knew, she could be wrong. She’d never spoken to her, or even seen her up close. She was just another face in the halls, but one that she happened to always notice. 

Laura had always thought she was pretty, swathed in black and blue robes with her dark hair falling over her shoulders and her angled jaw and deep brown eyes, but up close, pretty was an _understatement_. She was _beautiful_ , radiating this languid elegance despite her rough exterior. 

Laura was just about to back away, her neck growing warm as she realized that she’d been staring at Carmilla for a little too long, when the Ravenclaw spoke.

“You going to come wait to be fitted, cutie, or are you just going to stand there and stare at me all day?” Carmilla asked, glancing over to Laura with a smirk.

Blush bloomed across Laura’s cheeks and made her ears burn as Laura searched for some kind of response. “I-I wasn’t staring,” She said.

“Sure you weren’t.” Carmilla smirked, amused. When Laura didn’t move, she gave the Hufflepuff an expectant look. “Well? Are you going to come wait or not?”

“Uh, right.” Laura said, her cheeks growing even redder as she stepped out from between the racks of robes. “Uh, hi. Carmilla, right?”

“How do you know my name?” Carmilla asked, intrigued.

“Oh, I’ve uh, seen you around school,” Laura said with a shrug. She tensed after a moment. “Not in a weird way, I just see you in the halls sometimes and at dinner, and breakfast...and lunch, but it’s not like I look for you, I just see you sometimes...and, um, LaFontaine is in your house, and they mention you sometimes, so that’s how I know your name--”

“Cupcake, breathe,” Carmilla chuckled, an amused glint in her eye.

Laura opened her mouth to speak, but then an annoyed look crossed her face. “My name is _Laura_ ,” She huffed.

“I know,” Carmilla said, her eyes flicking to Laura’s still rosy cheeks. “I’ve seen you around school,”

Laura gave her a look, her nose briefly bunching up in annoyance, and then glanced down at the bundles at Carmilla’s feet. “Getting new school robes?”

“Among other things.” Carmilla nodded, “Are you?”

Laura nodded as well. “Yeah, mine were getting a little worn out,”

Carmilla smiled, strangely taken by this tiny Hufflepuff. She was adorable, her wide, honey brown eyes glinting in the warm light of the shop. Her brown hair was littered with sun streaks, no doubt from a summer spent outside, and Carmilla was quickly finding out that was she was extremely fun to tease. That little bunched up face she made when she was annoyed was hilarious. Carmilla had seen it in passing at school, but always across the halls, or across the Great Hall. She always had a bounce in her step and usually a bright smile on her face, unless she was deep in thought, and then a crease would form between her eyebrows and she’d start chewing on her lip. LaFontaine had mentioned her once or twice but to this day Carmilla still couldn’t place where she’d heard her last name. 

“You looking forward to going back?” Laura asked after a few moments, shaking Carmilla from her thoughts. 

Carmilla nodded. “Very much,” She said, running her thumb over her wand, which stuck out of her pocket. 

Laura nodded, excitement creeping back into her eyes. “Me too. I mean I’ll miss my dad a lot, and home, but I also miss my friends, and the castle, and I’m really excited for classes this year because apparently we’ll start moving towards O.W.L. subjects and Defense Against the Dark Arts is supposed to get more challenging--”

Carmilla rolled her eyes and groaned. “ _Merlin_ , please don’t remind me about O.W.L.s,” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“Oh, right, you’re a fifth year,” Laura said with a wince. She tucked her hair behind her ear and shrugged a little with one shoulder. “I know the tests are hard, but the subject matter is exciting though, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” Carmilla said with a shrug. 

Laura was about to say something when she was cut off by Madam Malkin, who came bustling out from behind the screen with a kind smile on her face.

“Hello dears, which one of you is first, then?” She asked cheerfully, looking at the two of them expectantly.

“Oh, she--” Laura began, only to be cut off by Carmilla. 

“She can go first,” Carmilla said, gesturing to Laura. 

“Wait, that’s not fair, she was here before me,” Laura said, looking from Carmilla to Madame Malkin and then back again.

“Ladies first,” Carmilla said with a smirk, causing Laura’s cheeks grow warm. “I can wait a few more minutes,”

“Well then, come along dear,” Madame Malkin said, gesturing for Laura to follow her.

Laura glanced back at Carmilla as she followed Madame Malkin behind the screen, who was just standing there with a curious smile pulling at her lips.

\------

When Laura emerged from the fitting corner, she saw Carmilla still waiting on the other side of the screen, except this time she had a book in her hand, presumably from the untied bundle at her feet, and it seemed that the Ravenclaw didn’t even notice as Laura walked by her to meet Madame Malkin at her desk to pay for her robes.

When Laura’s four new robes and cloak were neatly wrapped in brown paper, Madame Malkin bade her a cheerful goodbye and made her way over to Carmilla once more. Laura bit her lip and watched Carmilla follow Madame Malkin for a moment, before quickly walking towards her.

“Carmilla?” Laura called.

Carmilla paused and turned around, a questioning look on her face.

“Uh, my dad and I are going to Florean Fortescue’s for ice cream,” She said as she pointed awkwardly behind herself. “when you’re done, do you want to come with us?”

Something akin to shock flitted across Carmilla’s face, but Laura barely registered it before it was gone. “Sorry, cupcake,” She said a moment later, shaking her head a little. “I have to meet my sister soon,”

Laura’s face fell and her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. “Oh, okay. Bye, then,”

“But maybe I’ll see you on the train?” Carmilla called as Laura turned to go, finding that she strangely didn’t like the look of disappointment on Laura’s face. 

Laura’s face brightened up, and a smile broke across her features. “Yeah, okay,” She said, her cheeks tinging pink. “see you!” She said with a little wave, and then hurried out of the store.

Carmilla chuckled under her breath, waving back.


	3. "Hey, again,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope everyone's doing well, and I hope everyone who went to to CarmillainNYC had a wonderful time!
> 
> Here's chapter three, and don't forget to swing by the HPSLAU page on my Tumblr for additional content, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
> 
> thanks so much fore reading!

“Promise you’ll write?” Laura’s father asked as he made sure for the fourth time that morning that everything was still in its place on Laura’s luggage trolley. He looked up at her with a kind yet stern expression.   
“Every week?”

“Yes, I promise,” Laura said with a chuckle as she rolled her eyes. Beside her, her owl hooted softly and nibbled at the bars of her cage. Laura turned to the cage and poked a finger through the bars to gently stroke her beak. “you will be flying home _plenty_ , don’t worry,”

“Well,” Laura’s father sighed, straightening up. “I suppose that’s everything, then. You still have that bear spray I gave you? And your yellow pillow?”

“It’s in my backpack,” Laura said, tugging at the strap that sat on her shoulder. At this point, she just humored him without protest when it came to the bear spray. “and my pillow is in my trunk,”

Laura’s father leaned down just as Laura stepped forward, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. 

“I’m gonna miss you,” Laura mumbled into his chest as she gripped his teeshirt.

“I’m gonna miss you too, pumpkin,” He said gruffly, trying to hide the little catch in his voice. He always got choked up when she left home for school. “but I’ll see you for Christmas, okay? And I’ll send pictures of Tibbs and I with my letters,” Tibbs was a stray tom cat that had come around their little house a few years earlier, and refused to leave. Laura’s father had been wary about him, like he was about everything in the world, and wouldn’t let him in the house or near Laura. That changed though when Tibbs chased away a garden gnome that had tried to bite Laura. Laura’s father finally relented after that, and let Tibbs stay after a trip to the vet and a slew of vaccinations.

Laura nodded with a little sniffle. “Okay,”

“And you’ll see your friends on the train, right?”

Laura nodded again. “Yeah,” She looked over her shoulder as the whistle blew. “I have to go, it’s getting ready to leave,”

Laura father nodded and gave her a peck on the forehead, and one last hug before letting her run off to drop her trunk by the luggage car. As she did so, though, she caught sight a familiar head of dark hair ducking into the passenger car right before the luggage car. 

_Carmilla._

A grin broke across Laura’s face before she could register it. Back when she’d met Carmilla at Madame Malkin’s, Carmilla had said that maybe they’d see each other on the train, and honestly, Laura was hoping they would. She’d always been curious about the quiet Ravenclaw, but after talking to her in Diagon Alley, she wanted to really get to know her. Laura quickly fed her owl a treat and stroked her head before trotting over to the passenger car and hopping on. She stood there for a moment, looking up and down the tiny hall between the compartments. Laura’s brow furrowed. Carmilla must already be settled into a compartment, she thought. Laura made her way up the narrow hall, peeking into each compartment as she passed it. The tiny Hufflepuff was beginning to worry that she’d gotten the wrong passenger car, but her face lit up when she reached the last compartment on the left, and saw a familiar figure, alone, slouched in a seat with her feet up and her nose in a book. Laura tapped gently on the glass, her lip pulled between her teeth.

Carmilla looked up, ready to give whoever was disrupting her an icy glare, but was suddenly taken aback when she saw that it was Laura, of all people, on the other side of the glass. She smiled a little and beckoned for Laura to come in, and had to bite back an even bigger smile when Laura all but bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment before pulling open the compartment door. 

“Hey, again,” Laura said a bit shyly, though the excitement was still present in her eyes. She fidgeted in the doorway for a moment. “you said that maybe we would see each other on the train...is that still okay?” 

“Sure, cutie,” Carmilla said with a smirk. She closed her book after folding the corner of the page over.

Laura grinned and stepped in, closing the compartment door behind her with a click before she shrugged off her backpack and sat on the seat opposite Carmilla. “Uh, hey,” She said, still smiling.

“Hey,” Carmilla said, biting back a genuine smile as she wondered why the hell this tiny little Hufflepuff wasn’t annoying her. Nearly everybody else did.

“Did you have a good summer?” Laura asked as she got comfortable on the bench seat.

Carmilla stiffened a bit, but hoped Laura wouldn’t notice. She shrugged and grunted noncommittally, and then slouched in her seat a little more. “It was alright, I guess,” She said. “yours?”

“It was great,” Laura grinned. “mostly stayed home, but it was still nice. Why was yours just alright?” She asked, her face falling a little. 

“I have an extremely annoying little brother,” Carmilla deadpanned.

“Oh,” Laura nodded, though she couldn’t help wondering if that was the only reason. She then proceeded to blurt that wonder out with her usual grace. “That’s the only reason?”

“Do I need another?” Carmilla snapped back.

Laura’s eyebrows raised in surprise, taken aback by the sudden harshness of Carmilla’s voice. “No I...guess not,” Her eyes flicked down to the book in Carmilla’s hands. “what are you reading?” She asked after a moment, hoping a lighter topic would help.

Carmilla looked down at the book in her hands and seemed to relax again. “Camus,” She said, holding it up briefly. 

“Oh, he’s a muggle, right?” Laura asked, intrigued. Her eyes flicked over the title on the cover. _The Stranger._

Carmilla nodded. “He’s a philosopher. Absurdism,”

“Huh, that’s cool,” Laura smiled, “I’ve been reading Tolkien lately,” She said, gesturing to the book that sat on top of her bag.

Who?” Carmilla asked, looking confused. 

“You’ve never heard of Tolkien?” Laura asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Seriously, Cupcake,” Carmilla deadpanned. 

“He wrote Lord of the Rings...?” Laura continued, leaning forward expectantly.

“I’m not following, sweetheart,” Carmilla said, still looking utterly lost.

“Wow,” Laura said, and then let out a small laugh. “sometimes I forget that not everyone knows about famous muggles,”

“You’re a muggle-born?” Carmilla asked, shifting in her seat.

“Half blood,” Laura said with a little shrug. “I’m guessing you’re a pureblood?”

Carmilla nodded, though she looked a little disgruntled about it. “Unfortunately,”

“Why unfortunately?” Laura asked, confused. “The prejudice stopped when the war ended, right?”

“Mostly,” Carmilla said with a nod, “it still lingers in places, though,”

“Oh...like in your family?” Laura asked tentatively, wondering if maybe that was the other reason why Carmilla didn’t enjoy her summer much.

“Mmm,” Carmilla hummed , and then was quiet for a moment. “So tell me about this _Tolkien_ ,” Carmilla asked, sitting up straighter. 

Laura’s eyes lit up in excitement.

\-------

“You sure this guy wasn’t a wizard, Cupcake?” Carmilla asked around a bite of chocolate frog.

“If he was, he’d be on the back of one of these, trust me,” Laura said, holding up a chocolate frog card.

The Hogwarts Express had been chugging along through the countryside for a few hours now, and it was growing late in the afternoon. After Carmilla’s request, Laura had launched into an in-depth explanation of Lord of the Rings, and subsequently, everything she knew about Tolkien, both of them only taking a break to buy their body weight in food from the Lunch Trolley. (Laura was quickly finding out that Carmilla had a thing for chocolate. Neither of them touched the boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, though.) Carmilla listened intently to Laura as she spoke, all the while still wondering why this tiny ball of energy with her excited voice and flailing gestures wasn’t driving her absolutely mad. Why she found it kind of...endearing, instead.

Laura, meanwhile, was amazed that Carmilla actually seemed to be enjoying the conversation. She didn’t want to assume, but she’d never seen Carmilla pay much attention to anyone at school, let alone interact more than she absolutely had to. She’d even gotten Carmilla to snort in amusement once or twice while describing Hobbits to her, which had caused an odd, yet not wholly unpleasant fluttering feeling in her stomach and chest. 

“He really wasn’t far off with some of the magic,” Carmilla said, ripping open a third chocolate frog and huffing when she got Merwyn the Malicious for the umpteenth time. “the ring sounds like a Horcrux,”

“I know!” Laura grinned. “maybe he had a friend who was a wizard, or something...” She said thoughtfully, her eyes squinting as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Laura was shaken from her thoughts, however, when a crackly voice came over the intercom--that looked very much like an ear horn--above them.

“We will be reaching Hogsmede Station in a half hours’ time, please begin to gather your belongings and promptly change into your school robes. Thank you.” The intercom crackled a bit more, and then fell silent.

“I suppose we should change, then,” Carmilla sighed, standing up and stretching with a quiet moan.

“Right, I’ll just step out while you change,” Laura said, standing up.

“You can stay,” Carmilla said as she rummaged through her own bag for her robes. “I don’t mind. Unless it bothers you,” She glanced up at Laura.

“Uh, no, not at all,” Laura stammered, shrugging awkwardly. She grimaced internally as she felt the tips of her ears heat up, and quickly turned to her own bag and began pulling out her robes.

Carmilla glanced back at her with a smirk, but it was softer this time.

\------

Carmilla allowed a soft half smile to creep across her face as she saw Hogwarts come into view through the train window. Her chest felt lighter, her body not as stiff, and she felt like she could finally breathe for the first time since leaving the castle in June. She was _home._ And sure, she loved her regular clothes, her motorcycle jacket and her Weird Sisters tees and her ripped jeans and leather pants that pissed Maman off, but her robes were soft and she liked the weight of them around her shoulders. And the Ravenclaw crest on her chest pissed Maman off even more than the ripped jeans and leather pants, so really, it was a win-win.

“You really love it here, don’t you?” Laura asked, jarring Carmilla from her thoughts.

Carmilla turned back to look at Laura, who had also changed into her robes, except hers were yellow and black, not blue and black like Carmilla’s. Yellow suited her, Carmilla thought. Like sunshine. A look of confusion flitted across Carmilla’s face at the thought, but she quickly shoved it aside for now. “Yeah...it’s home,” Carmilla shrugged. 

Laura smiled. “It’s always sort of felt like home to me too,” She said, “I mean not completely, because,   
y’know, dad’s not here, and neither is Tibbs, and it smells different, but it’s always been home, in a way,”

Carmilla chuckled under her breath, shaking her head a little. She still wasn’t sure why she was so taken with Laura, and why her presence didn’t make her want to tear her hair out or roll her eyes like most people’s presence did, but she didn’t feel like questioning it right now. As the train slowed to a stop, Carmilla just hoped that Laura would want to see her again.

Carmilla followed Laura off the train once it was stopped, and the two started towards the carriages when someone called Laura’s name.

Laura turned around and smiled when she saw Danny Lawrence hurrying along the path towards her. “Hey Danny!” She called cheerfully, waving her free hand.

Carmilla rolled her eyes, but still paused beside Laura, a foot or so between them. She wasn’t very fond of the ginger giant.

“Hey Hollis,” Danny grinned. “where were you? We missed you on the train,”

Carmilla reached out and brushed her fingertips against Laura’s upper arm to get her attention. “I’ll see you later, Cupcake,” She said with a smirk. “don’t want to intrude here,”

“Oh, okay,” Laura said, looking faintly crestfallen. “I’ll see you around?”

Carmilla nodded, the corner of her mouth witching up into a genuine smile. “Sure thing, sweetheart,” With that, Carmilla turned and continued up the path to find a carriage with an empty seat.

“What were you doing with Karnstein?” Danny asked, her nose scrunched up as she looked from Carmilla’s retreating back, and then to Laura with expectant eyes. 

“Oh, I sat with her on the train this time,” Laura said, shouldering her bag as she began walking up the path with Danny. 

“You spent the train ride with _Carmilla Karnstein?_ ” Danny asked incredulously. 

“Yeah...?” Laura said, giving Danny a confused look. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Do you even know her? She’s kind of a loner,”

“Well, not really. I’ve seen her around school, but we ran into each other in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago. She was nice...a little sarcastic, but still nice, so I found her on the train. I want to get to know her,” Laura said. And she did. She really did. There was something about her that just drew her in and wouldn’t let her go.

And honestly, she was quite okay with that.


	4. The Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry for the update coming a few hours late, today was a weird day. I hope everyone's doing well and I hop you all like this chapter! as always, thanks for reading!!

“LaFontaine, I cannot _believe_ you managed to already singe your hair when we’ve been here for less than twenty-four hours,” Perry scolded as her, LaFontaine, and Laura walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.

“Come on Perr, you know I’m not allowed to brew potions at home that contain Wolfsbane since Silas got into it after second year. I’ve been wanting to try this potion since _June_ ,” LaFontaine reasoned.

“And you couldn’t have waited until potions later today?”

“No,” LaFontaine replied, their eyebrows raised.

“What does Wolfsbane do to toads, exactly?” Laura asked, curious.

“I’m still not sure, but it turned him purple,” LaFontaine said, looking thoughtful.

Laura chuckled as the three of them took their seats and settled at the Hufflepuff table. It was only mandatory to sit at your own house table during the welcome feast, so after, LaFontaine always sat with Laura, Kirsch, JP, and Perry at the Hufflepuff table. Danny would sometimes join them as well. 

Overhead, fluffy white clouds floated just below the enchanted ceiling, which mirrored the blue sky outside, and sunlight streamed in through the towering windows behind the staff table. Each table was piled high with platters of eggs and bacon and sausages, pitchers of milk, and pumpkin and orange juice, boxes of cereal, platters of pancakes and French toast and pots of tea and carafes of coffee, bowls of grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. Laura looked around the Great Hall and sighed in contentment at the sight of it all. She paused, though, as she reached for the oatmeal, when she saw Carmilla sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table, by herself, with a book laid out beside her plate of eggs and bacon. 

Laura watched her for a moment, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth, before she started rooting around in her bag. A moment later, she pulled out a small piece of parchment, her quill and ink pot, and scrawled out a short message. When she was finished, she blew on the ink to help it dry, and then folded it into a paper airplane. She pulled out her wand and muttered a simple charm, and away it flew from her seat and over the Gryffindor table to land softly on Carmilla’s book. 

Carmilla jumped ever so slightly, startled by the little paper airplane as it landed on her book. She sighed, and went to carelessly brush it away, thinking it was Will pulling some stupid prank, until she saw _‘read me’_ written in unfamiliar handwriting on the left wing. Carmilla glanced down the Ravenclaw table before carefully unfolding the paper, her eyebrows furrowed, to find a short message written in the same unfamiliar, but neat handwriting. 

_Want to come sit with us? --Laura_

Carmilla looked up, her confused eyes falling on Laura, who was waving cheerfully from the Hufflepuff table. She raised her hand and waved a little, feeling a bit dumbfounded. Laura wanted her to come sit with her and her friends? Carmilla raised an eyebrow as Laura went from waving to her to beckoning her over. Apparently she did. Carmilla smiled a little and nodded, and began gathering her things, picking up her plate of eggs, bacon and toast last. 

Laura smiled as she watched Carmilla make her way over to their table, and began making room for her. She put her bag on the floor between her feet, and moved the plate that sat beside her own since Carmilla was bringing her own over. She was just dishing out some apple and cinnamon oatmeal into her bowl when Carmilla stopped beside her.

“Hey,” Laura beamed, looking up. 

“Hey,” Carmilla said with a small half smile. She glanced at Perry and LaFontaine, who were looking curiously from Laura to Carmilla and back.

“Come sit,” Laura grinned, patting the spot beside her as excitement bubbled in her chest. She turned to Perry and LaFontaine as she picked up her goblet of pumpkin juice. “You guys know Carmilla, right?”

“Um yes, yes we do,” Perry said, eyeing Carmilla warily as she took her seat beside Laura and set down her plate. Perry had heard all sorts of whispers about Carmilla over the years, and she didn’t like any of them. Some people said that she liked to study dark magic for kicks, and it was pretty well known that she was quite the lady-killer. She barely paid any attention in classes, and her family didn’t have the best reputation, even after the war. 

Carmilla caught sight of Perry’s less than pleased look and rolled her eyes. “I don’t bite, Raggedy Anne,” She drawled, looking at Perry pointedly as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice, and then set her goblet down. “Unless you want me to,”

Perry’s fork clattered against her plate as her mouth gaped open, her face flaming red. LaFontaine promptly inhaled their orange juice, and blush creeped up Laura’s neck.

“ _Excuse me?_ ” Perry demanded shrilly, gaping at a rather amused looking Carmilla after floundering for several moments, having been at a total loss for words.

Carmilla chuckled. “You are incredibly amusing to fluster,” Carmilla said, and then turned back to her breakfast.

Perry huffed in disbelief and took out her wand to clean off LaFontaine’s robes, which were now splattered with orange juice. 

Laura nudged Carmilla gently in the ribs with her elbow. “It’d be nice if Perry didn’t die of shock, you   
know,” Laura whispered in her ear.

“Where’s the fun in that, cupcake?” Carmilla smirked, despite the shiver running down her spine at how close Laura was. Her eyebrows pulled together briefly in confusion, but she brushed it off.

Laura gave her a look, but was soon distracted by the book that was sitting beside Carmilla’s plate. “More Camus?” She asked, looking back to Carmilla with curious eyes. 

Carmilla shook her head. “Eldred Worple,”

“That’s that vampire guy, right?” Laura asked, intrigued. “I’ve seen his books in Flourish and Blotts,”

Carmilla nodded. “He spent some time among the vampires and wrote what he learned,”

“That’s so cool,” Laura grinned, leaning over to study the cover of the book. “I think it’d be amazing to do something like that, go somewhere far away and investigate,” she said, almost wistfully. 

Carmilla looked at her curiously, trying to decipher the melancholic lilt to the little Hufflepuff’s voice. Whatever had caused that tone seemed to flit away a moment later, as Laura laughed at something LaFontaine said. Carmilla watched as Laura’s hazel eyes scrunch up in laughter, and she hid a little smile herself, deciding that she really liked the sound of her laugh. The yellow in her robes seemed to suit her more and more. Her thought from the train surfaced in her head again. _Sunshine._

The two eventually lapsed into a comfortable silence, both of them glancing at the other occasionally as they ate, and listening to LaFontaine and Perry bicker back and forth about one thing or another. 

“Are they always like that?” Carmilla asked after a while, leaning towards Laura with one eyebrow raised. 

“Oh, yeah,” Laura said with a small laugh. “they grew up next door to each other and apparently have been bickering like a married couple since they were five,”

Carmilla hummed, nodding a little. She drummed her fingers on the cover of her book, but then decided not to open it. As she ate her breakfast, she told herself it was because watching the ginger twins, as she’d newly dubbed them, argue, was far more amusing at the moment. She pushed down the fact that she just didn’t want to block out the yellow-clad girl next to her. 

\------

As the great bell rang out across the castle from the clock tower, signaling the end of breakfast, the four began packing up their things in preparation to leave for their respective classes. Laura cheerfully waved goodbye to Perry and LaFontaine, and went to wave to Carmilla as well, but Carmilla beat her to it with a gentle hand on her upper arm. 

“Hey, everything okay?” Laura asked, hugging her Transfiguration textbook to her chest, her bag slung over her shoulder.

“Can I ask you something?” Carmilla asked after a moment, looking a little perplexed. 

“Yeah, sure,” Laura said, curious.

Carmilla paused for a moment, her thumb running over the end of her wand that was tucked into the pocket in the front of her robes. “Why did you ask me to come sit with you and your friends?” 

“You looked lonely,” Laura said with a small shrug, her eyes soft. “nobody should have to eat alone,” 

Carmilla stared at her in quiet disbelief, her insides fluttering. 

“I’ll see you later,” Laura said with a bright smile, and the headed off to her first class.

Carmilla watched her go for a moment, and then breathed out a quiet chuckle as she shook her head, and started towards her own first class. 

\-------

“That was a recurring invitation, you know,”

Carmilla looked up from her bowl of chicken soup to find Laura standing next to her, an expectant look on her face. “What?”

“The note I sent you this morning was an invitation to sit with us all the time, not just this morning.” Laura explained. Lunch was just starting, and Laura, upon seeing Carmilla by herself at the Ravenclaw table again when she walked in with JP, huffed and marched over to her. “So are you coming?”

Carmilla hid a small smile as she picked up her things, and followed Laura over to the Hufflepuff table, her bowl of soup in hand.

\------

The next day at dinner, Carmilla met Kirsch, who she promptly scared the snot out of with a pointed glare when he’d tried to call her ‘Ravenclaw Hottie.’ Laura apologized on his behalf and explained to Carmilla that he was still in the learning stages of this wild idea called feminism. Carmilla nearly spit out her pumpkin juice when she met JP, thinking for a split second that she’d fallen into a parallel universe where her sniveling brother had been sorted into Hufflepuff. They looked remarkably similar save for JP’s longer, meticulously trimmed hair, but she soon found out that they were polar opposites, JP being polite and friendly in an oddly, yet endearingly stuffy way, where Will was arrogant and slimy. Perry still didn’t seem too thrilled by Carmilla’s presence at the table, but she actually passed Carmilla the beef gravy at dinner when she asked without comment, and Laura deemed that as progress. Danny glowered from the Gryffindor table, but Carmilla couldn't find it in herself to care. 

The one thing she did care about, however, was the tiny Hufflepuff girl sitting next to her. 

Carmilla marveled at the fact that of all the people in Hogwarts who could have approached her, Laura was the one to do it, but as each meal passed and the more time Carmilla spent seated next to Laura, that fact became less and less surprising. Laura was relentless, but in the most endearing way possible. Every meal, without fail, Laura would trot over and drag Carmilla back with her, making room for the Ravenclaw beside her and staring down anyone who looked at them funny. Carmilla’s insides grew a little warmer every time she saw those bright whisky eyes and that head of sun streaked honey-brown hair bobbing towards her in the Great Hall. 

Laura wasn’t the first to approach her. Students with a pureblood mindset were becoming further and fewer between as the years went by, but there were still a few floating around Hogwarts, and being a Karnstein, Carmilla had been approached by all of them, looking for connections or an alliance, or...whatever. Carmilla always dismissed them, never having much interest in her own blood status or the pureblood mania that still lingered in places.

Sometimes girls would approach Carmilla and flirt (the male students learned very quickly not to bother her after a Gryffindor boy called her sweetheart and told her to smile--she’d hexed him, causing him to emit a terrible screech that sounded like a rooster every time he opened his mouth) and she’d sometimes go along with it, but it never sat right no matter how entertaining it was for her. 

Laura, though, was the first to approach her for the simple reason of being nice. 

\------

It took two more days of Carmilla being dragged over to the Hufflepuff table by Laura before Carmilla finally sat there on her own. (Part of her was still trying to figure out why Laura actually _wanted_ her to sit with them, and part of her enjoyed the look of affectionate annoyance on her face every time she’d find Carmilla at the Ravenclaw table.)

Laura was seated at the Hufflepuff table on Saturday morning with Perry, LaFontaine, JP, and Kirsch, when a still bed-rumpled Carmilla slid into the seat beside Laura, and blindly reached for the carafe of coffee that was placed next to a platter of pancakes. Laura did a double take as Carmilla poured a generous amount of coffee into one of the stoneware mugs that were placed along the table, and spooned in a few teaspoons of sugar.

“Morning, Carmilla,” JP said cheerfully, looking around Laura for a moment before turning back to his breakfast. Carmilla nodded in greeting. 

“You’re here,” Laura grinned, looking at Carmilla with wide, excited eyes. Her stomach fluttered nervously, but it wasn’t at all a bad kind of nervous.

Warmth bloomed in Carmilla’s chest at how excited Laura looked. “I figured it’d be useless to keep fighting it,” She smirked, her voice scratchy with sleep. She was dressed very much like she had been on the train--uniforms weren’t mandatory on weekends--having donned a grey tee shirt and a pair of black jeans. Laura idly wondered how she hadn’t tripped and fallen to her doom on the stairs considering her boots were untied, and her hair was still a bit unruly from sleep, loose curls falling around her shoulders, and her bangs in her eyes. Clearly she’d barely had the mental capacity get herself dressed and down to breakfast. Regardless, though, Laura hoped the heat she felt creeping up her neck wasn’t too noticeable. 

Laura studied Carmilla’s face for a moment, noticing the dark circles under Carmilla’s eyes as the Ravenclaw heaped pancakes and bacon onto her plate, and her eyes grew concerned. “Did you sleep? You look really tired,”

Carmilla looked over to her as she took another sip of coffee. “Trying to tell me something, cutie?” She asked, an eyebrow raised. 

“What? No!” Laura said, trying to make it clear she hadn’t meant it negatively. “I just wanted to know if you were okay is all,”

That warm feeling spread through Carmilla again at Laura’s words. “I’m fine, Cupcake,” She said with a small smile. “I was up late reading,” Carmilla took a moment to let her eyes roam across Laura. She was dressed in a faded green and yellow Holyhead Harpies teeshirt with a beige cardigan over it, and a pair of blue jeans. The hazy morning sunlight streaming in through the windows glinted off the sun streaks in her loose hair, tucked behind her ears as usual, and made her whiskey eyes shine even brighter, if that was possible. _Beautiful_ flitted through Carmilla’s head, and she quickly looked down at her pancakes when she felt her cheeks begin to grow warm.

“Oh, okay,” Laura said with a nervous smile. She picked up her fork again and cut into her French toast. “what book?”

“Camus, again,” Carmilla answered.

“Oh!” Laura said, sitting up straight suddenly, her eyes widening. “I almost forgot!” She set her fork down and picked up something that sat between her and JP on the bench. “since you were curious about it on the train, I uh, though I’d lend you my copy of The Hobbit,” Laura said, turning back to Carmilla with a well-loved book in her hands. She held it out. “It’s a muggle book so I doubt they’d have it in the Library, and you probably couldn’t order it by owl, so I thought if you want to read it, you could use mine,”

Carmilla took the book and stared down at it, her eyebrows raised. She hadn’t expected this...at all. She didn’t really understand why Laura was being so nice to her. Sure, Hufflepuffs were known for being pretty all-accepting, but this was another level. Laura was trusting her with a book that, by the looks of the well-loved cover, meant a great deal to the little Hufflepuff. 

“I mean,” Laura continued, growing nervous at Carmilla’s silence, “of course you don’t have to, you said you’re in the middle of a couple books already, and then schoolwork on top of that, and that’s a lot already, and I know you probably don’t want to drop the books you’re reading just to read this one, I mean, why would y--”

“Cupcake,” Carmilla said, gently cutting her off. Laura took a deep breath, anxious for Carmilla’s answer.   
“I’d love to read it,” Carmilla smiled a little. “thank you,”

A smile broke across Laura’s face. “You would?” Carmilla nodded. “Great!” Laura grinned, “you can keep it as long as you like,”

Carmilla nodded in thanks, and set the book down beside her plate. 

Yeah, she thought. 

_Beautiful._

\------

“Hey Danny!” Laura called, waving as she saw Danny leaving the Great Hall to go to the Quidditch pitch like she always did on Saturday mornings since she made the Gryffindor team.

Danny smiled and walked over to her, waving back. “Hey Hollis, want to come down to the pitch? I was going to go practice. Some company would be nice, if you’re not busy,”

“Yeah, sure,” Laura grinned. She’d always loved watching anything to do with Quidditch. Matches, practice, whatever. She didn’t care. If it was on a broom, she’d come down and watch. She hadn’t missed a school game yet. “I haven’t seen you at meals lately,” She added, her voice a bit quiet.

“I’m not sitting with Karnstien,” Danny said, contempt lacing her voice. “why is she sitting there anyways? Did she just decide that she was _entitled_ to sit wherever she wanted? If she’s bothering you, you can come to the Gryffindor table, you know, or I could tell her to leave you alone,”

“She’s sitting there because I _invited_ her,” Laura said, slowing to a stop. 

Danny stopped as well and turned around, looking confused. “What?”

“I invited her to sit with us,” Laura said again. “she always sits alone and I thought she might be lonely,” 

“Laura, you don’t have to invite someone over just because they sit by themselves,” Danny said. “especially her. She’s bad news, Laura. I’m amazed she wasn’t sorted into Slytherin, the rest of her slimy family was,”

A look of hurt crossed Laura’s face. “Really, Danny? I thought you were above that, you know Slytherin isn’t a bad house.” She said, her fingers curling up as annoyance coursed through her. “She’s _sweet_ , I like sitting with her,” 

Danny gave her a disbelieving look. 

Laura glanced back at the entrance to the castle. “I’m still kind of tired,” She said, her voice flat. “and I have homework still, so I’m going to just head back to the common room,”

“Fine,” Danny said with a huff. “see you around,” She turned and continued walking towards the Quidditch pitch, her shoulders stiff.

Laura sighed, but couldn’t find it in herself to feel the least bit guilty. She didn’t know what Danny’s problem was, but she liked Carmilla, a lot. She liked sitting with her. She wasn’t going to make Carmilla leave.


	5. Transfiguration Troubles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope everyone's doing okay, it's been absolutely boiling here all day, holy shit. Anyways, here's chapter five! I hope you all like it, and if you have any questions or just want to chat, feel free to hit up my tumblr!

Laura groaned loudly and let her head thunk against the table. 

Carmilla raised an eyebrow as she bit into her apple. “Problem, sweetheart?” She asked once she’d swallowed.

“Yes, thanks for asking,” Laura said in a tight voice as she picked her head up from the table, her forehead a bit pink.

“Want to maybe _share_ that problem?” Carmilla prompted, doing her best to hide a smile at Laura’s adorably scrunched up face.

“This Transfiguration homework is going to be the death of me!” Laura exclaimed, throwing her quill down. “And I love Transfiguration, I do, and Professor McGonagall is amazing but it’s just...it’s just so hard,” she finished in a whine, her shoulders slumping.

Carmilla chuckled softly and set down her apple. “Well you’re in luck, cutie, Transfiguration is the one class I have perfect marks in,”

Laura’s head snapped up, her eyes wide. “You do?? Would you help me??”

Carmilla nodded with a small smile. “Come here, let’s see it,” She said, leaning closer to Laura.

Laura felt her cheeks grow warm as Carmilla pressed up against her side, the Ravenclaw’s face mere inches from her own as she skimmed over the section Laura’s Transfiguration book was opened up to. 

About a month had passed since Carmilla became a regular at the Hufflepuff table. It was October now, and the leaves were starting to really change, the nights growing colder. The first Hogsmede trip of the year was drawing closer and so was Halloween, and there was an excited buzz about the castle. 

Things were going well at the Hufflepuff table with the addition of the Ravenclaw. Perry was warming up minutely to Carmilla, and even started saying hello to her sometimes at meals, which Laura thought was nothing short of amazing. Carmilla won LaFontaine over immediately when she caused a rather snooty Gryffindor prefect’s mashed potatoes to explode in their face one night with a well-timed hex. Kirsch learned his place quickly, though he still slipped up and called her ‘Ravenclaw Hottie’ occasionally. Laura had to restrain Carmilla on a few occasions. JP was cheerful as always and surprisingly enough, got along quite well with Carmilla, even though he did most of the talking. 

Danny was the only one who wouldn’t interact with Carmilla past glaring daggers at her, and Laura couldn’t understand why. Well maybe she could, with Danny being Danny, but it still hurt how Danny had automatically assumed that Carmilla was bullying Laura, and how she had implied that Laura couldn’t watch out for herself. She’d barely talked to Danny in weeks. She wasn’t giving up, though. Hell, she didn’t care if they didn't get along, she just didn't want her friends to be mean to each other. Carmilla was rough around the edges, but she didn’t deserve Danny’s blind hate.

“Cupcake, are you listening?” Carmilla asked, jolting Laura from her thoughts. 

Laura blinked rapidly, her eyes focusing on a very amused Carmilla. “What? Yeah, of course I am!”

“Sweetheart, I just told you that the Holyhead Harpies are a terrible team and you agreed,” Carmilla smirked, one eyebrow raised. 

Laura suddenly found her Transfiguration book incredibly interesting as her cheeks turned bright red. “They are not terrible,” She grumbled, picking up her quill again.

Carmilla chuckled and leaned forward again, resting her elbow on the table, her chin in the palm of her hand. “I know. Ready to try again?”

Laura nodded as she willed her blush to recede. 

That was something that had been happening more often with the addition of Carmilla at the table. Laura was finding herself more and more distracted by Carmilla’s presence as the weeks went by. Her eyes, her voice, her laugh. Her smile, however rare it was. Her smirk, too. Carmilla was _very_ distracting. Laura had known this from the moment she met her, but it was only becoming more and more apparent the more time Laura spent with her. Carmilla was...sweet. ‘Sweet’ was not exactly a word Laura would have associated with Carmilla before this year, but that’s what she was. Carmilla liked to nibble on her toast as she read over breakfast. She always had coffee with lots of cream, or cocoa if she needed cheering up. Sometime she would peek over Laura’s shoulder as Laura read the Daily Prophet in the morning and tap Laura’s forearm to let her know she wasn’t done reading an article when Laura would go to turn the page. She would crack jokes under her breath sometimes at Kirsch’s expense that made Laura snort into her pumpkin juice. The jokes were never truly mean, though. Laura had caught her glaring daggers at a couple Slytherins who were clearly mocking LaFontaine one or twice. She didn’t get much mail, which Laura wondered about, but Carmilla didn’t seem to be bothered by it. She didn’t mind peas but she hated asparagus. And now she was helping Laura with her homework. 

Laura smiled a little as she looked up from her textbook to glance at Carmilla as the Ravenclaw explained the equation needed for the problem she was trying to work out. 

The butterflies residing in Laura’s stomach when she saw Carmilla or thought about her had yet to fade. If anything, they were only growing more exuberant, and Laura was losing the battle with herself about ignoring what that meant.

\------

“Hey Carm?” Laura called as she trotted along the Hufflepuff table towards her spot a few days later. Carmilla’s last class before dinner was closer to the Great Hall than Laura’s, so she always wound up at the table first. 

“Hmm?” Carmilla hummed, looking up from her book. She placed her bookmark between the pages and set it aside. 

“Could you help me with that equation again after we eat?” Laura asked as she sat down. “It’s not _as_ hard anymore after you explained it, but I’m still sorta stuck,” 

“Sure, cupcake,” Carmilla said with a smirk, though it was soft, like her eyes. 

“Thank you so much,” Laura breathed in relief. Without thinking, she leaned forward and wrapped Carmilla in a tight hug.

Carmilla’s eyebrows shot up, taken aback by the gesture. The only person who ever really hugged her anymore was Mattie. Maman never hugged her. Will wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole, not that she was complaining any. Laura had grabbed her arm a few times, or brushed her hand along it, but the closest they’d ever gotten to hugging was leaning on each other a little occasionally.

And it occurred to Carmilla that she should probably hug the tiny Hufflepuff back when Laura stiffened slightly against her.

Laura felt relief flood her when she felt Carmilla’s arms wrap around her waist. For a moment there she’d been afraid she’d overstepped. She’d never seen Carmilla be very touchy with anyone, even when she was flirting with whatever girl piqued her interest on that given day. The thought of Carmilla’s lady killer tendencies caused the butterflies in her stomach to turn into a squirming pit of snakes, but the feeling dissipated again as she felt Carmilla’s arms tighten slightly around her. The butterflies came roaring back, and Laura felt her cheeks heat up at the sudden realization of how _good_ Carmilla smelled. Like chocolate and damp earth, spruce and wood smoke. 

Yeah, she thought, as she pulled away from Carmilla a moment later to find Carmilla’s soft brown eyes still on her, a curious and endearing glint in them. 

Maybe she should stop fighting it.


	6. Treats and Tomes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I almost forgot that I had to update this today, haha. I hope everyone's doing well, and here's chapter 6! 
> 
> If anybody wants, you're all welcome to hit up my tumblr to discuss this AU (lots of tidbits are floating around my docs that might not make it into the actual fic) any of my AUs, or just if you want to talk headcanons or about Carmilla/Haunted or Hoax! I've started doing some Hollstein headcanon sessions on my tumblr, and they've been a total blast, and I really enjoy talking to you guys. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

“ _There_ you are,”

Carmilla looked up from her book to find Laura making her way down the isle of bookshelves. “What are you doing here?” She asked, confused. “Don’t you have class now?”

Laura gave her a curious look. “No,” She laughed. “Carm, it’s past dinner. You didn’t show up and I--uh-- _we_ got worried. I checked up at the hospital wing, but you weren’t there, so I thought maybe you’d be here,” Laura shrugged a little, willing her heart to return to a normal pace after her little slip-up. 

“I didn’t realize it’d gotten so late,” Carmilla said, closing her book. She glanced out the library window and sure enough, there were stars twinkling against the velvet indigo sky. She sighed, a little frustrated about missing dinner. She’d wanted to see Laura, and she’d been hungry. At least she had a couple pumpkin pasties tucked away by her bed, but she’d been looking forward to seeing Laura at dinner all day, and now she’d missed it. Laura would probably be heading off to bed soon.

“I figured you hadn’t after I found out that you weren’t in the hospital wing,” Laura said with a little smile. “I uh, brought you this,” Laura held out a little bundle wrapped in a cloth napkin.

Carmilla took the bundle, a curious glint in her eyes. “What’s this?” She asked, setting it on her lap before unwrapping it.

“You missed dinner and I knew you’d be hungry, so,” Laura shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant.

Inside the bundle was a turkey and stuffing sandwich, still warm, and a chocolate chip cookie, each wrapped in thick butcher paper. “Where did you get this?” Carmilla asked, her eyes lighting up. She looked over to Laura, who had pulled out a little bundle of her own.

“The kitchens,” Laura said, smiling. “a lot of the house elves like Hufflepuffs. And they weren’t very happy when they found out you’d missed dinner,” She took a bite of one of the cookies from the small stack on her lap.

Carmilla smiled, shaking her head a little. _This girl was too much._ “Thanks,” She said with a small smile, and picked up the sandwich to take a bite. 

“No problem,” Laura grinned. “So what are you doing here?” She asked, looking over at the book Carmilla had been reading. 

“Studying for O.W.L.s,” Carmilla sighed with a roll of her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. She’d taken off her robes and her tie was loose, but still tucked under her sweater. Clearly she’d been here for a while and decided to get comfortable. Laura tried not to focus on the fact that disheveled looked _really_ good on Carmilla.

“ _You_ , studying?” Laura said, grinning amusedly. 

“Shocking, I know,” Carmilla drawled. “but Maman has _expectations_ ,” She added quietly, and took another bite of her sandwich to busy herself.

“Ah,” Laura nodded. She wanted to ask about that, really wanted to, but she didn’t. Carmilla never mentioned her family, and Laura sensed that it was maybe a sensitive topic. She was busting, but she didn’t want to possibly upset Carmilla, so she bit her tongue, however hard it was to do so. 

“Are you going to go up to bed soon?” Carmilla asked, changing the topic.

Laura shrugged a little. “There’s still some time before curfew...I thought I could hang out here with you, if you want,” She said, her neck growing a little warm. She bit her lip. “I mean, I don’t have to, if you don’t want me to, I don’t want to distract you from your work or annoy you or something, I just thought that you might want some company and I kinda missed you at dinner but I totally get it if you don’t want me to--”

Carmilla’s insides fluttered. _Laura missed her?_ “I’d like that,” She said with a little smile, placing a hand on Laura’s arm.

The grin Laura gave her was blinding.

\-------

A few days later Laura found Carmilla in the Library again, though it was a Saturday this time. Laura didn’t say anything, just waved hello and settled down beside her at the worn table with her own work. She had a Charms test coming up and even though Charms was one her best subjects, she wanted to make sure she was prepared. 

The Ravenclaw’s stomach had leapt when she saw Laura walk into the Library, her arms full of books, though she tried to hide it. Even so, she shuffled her things over a bit, making room for Laura at the spot beside her. She smiled a little when Laura waved, and turned back to her book as she willed herself not to blush.

Carmilla placed a chocolate frog on Laura’s book that she’d brought for her from her stash about an hour in to their silent study session.

\------

It became sort of a routine, not unlike how Carmilla started sitting at the Hufflepuff table. Laura would find her at the library every other day or so, bringing her own homework along. Both of them would smuggle food in, and would sit at a table or situate themselves deep in the stacks and set up camp, more or less, with cookies or sandwiches (Laura would bring the sandwiches on weekends when they’d skip lunch to study in the library, and then afterwards, Laura would find the rest of their friends in the Great Hall, or out on the grounds. Carmilla tagged along once in a while.) and would work in silence for hours. Sometimes Laura would get there first, and when Carmilla showed up, would ask for help with Transfiguration, which Carmilla always provided. Once, Laura noticed Carmilla growing frustrated over her Charms work, and offered to help. Carmilla begrudgingly accepted, and Laura found the blush that would tinge the Ravenclaw’s cheeks when she started to ask for help on her own incredibly adorable. ‘Adorable’ was another word Laura wouldn’t have exactly associated with Carmilla before now, but that’s what she was.

Carmilla learned that Laura’s favorite subjects were Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and that she was very good at both. She was apparently dreadful at potions, but JP helped her out when she needed it. Transfiguration was still proving difficult for her, but she was getting better with Carmilla’s help. She enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology immensely, and unsurprisingly got along famously with both Hagrid and Professor Longbottom. 

Carmilla also noticed how Laura would brush the end of her quill back and forth across her lips when she was thinking, or trying to work out a problem, and sometimes when she was having a particularly hard time, her nose would scrunch up and she would grumble under her breath. Carmilla had to force herself to avert her gaze more than once to avoid being caught staring as the feather brushed back and forth across Laura’s soft, pink lips, and she’d bitten her own lips once or twice to keep from snickering at Laura’s annoyed grumbling.

\-------

Carmilla may have skipped dinner once or twice on purpose in the hopes that Laura would come find her.

Maybe.

It’d been several days since the last time they met up in the Library, both missing when the other was there, and the Ravenclaw was loathed to admit it, but she missed seeing Laura on her own. Well, she wasn’t exactly loathed to admit it to herself, but she’d _never_ admit it to anyone else.

At least not yet. 

\-------

Carmilla was set up at a small table at the back of the Library near the Restricted Section, surrounded by rolls of parchment and at least half a dozen books when Laura found her. 

“You missed dinner again, Carm,” Laura said with an affectionate mock glare as she sat down across from Carmilla.

“Did I?” Carmilla asked, feigning ignorance.

Laura rolled her eyes, though she still smiled. “Did you skip on purpose?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe,” Carmilla said with a smirk.

“Why?” Laura asked, looking confused. “Weren’t you hungry?”

Carmilla’s smirk faded away and was replaced by an uncharacteristically nervous look. “Maybe I wanted to see you,” She said, fiddling with her quill.

Laura’s cheeks heated up, and she ducked her head, her insides fluttering madly. “You would’ve seen me at dinner,” She said with a small, nervous laugh.

Carmilla rolled her eyes, though she was smiling again. “ _Without_ the rest of the dimwit squad,” She clarified. 

Laura’s eyes widened a little and her cheeks reddened even more much to her annoyance. “ _Oh_.” She said, nodding a little. “I, uh, I brought food,” She said busying herself with digging through her bag. 

Carmilla sat up a little bit, smirking softly. “So did I,” She reached into her own bag and produced a couple of cauldron cakes, which were wrapped in a napkin from the Great Hall. 

Laura sat up with a ham and cheese sandwich in each hand, and placed them on the table after nudging aside an Ancient Runes book. Her eyes lit up when she saw the cauldron cakes. “Great! Oh, are you going to Hogsmede this weekend?” She asked, suddenly remembering that she’d wanted to ask Carmilla. “all of us go together and we usually go to the shops and then to The Three Broomsticks for lunch, would you want to come with us?” Laura looked at Carmilla with wide, hopeful eyes.

Carmilla’s shoulders slumped as her heart sank. “I can’t, cutie,” She sighed, setting down her quill.

Laura’s face fell. “Why not?” She asked, unconsciously reaching across the table and laying her hand on Carmilla’s, which was fiddling with the corner of a piece of parchment. 

Carmilla’s eyes flicked down to their hands, her heart leaping in her chest. After a moment, she reluctantly met Laura’s eyes. “I don’t have permission to go,” She said quietly, hating that she was disappointing the little Hufflepuff in front of her. 

“What?” Laura asked, confused. “Why? It’s _Hogsmede_...even my dad lets me go, and he’s like the most overprotective parent in the world,”

“It’s not that,” Carmilla shook her head, sitting up a little straighter again. “Maman doesn’t think it’s a...worthy use of my time,” 

“That’s not fair,” Laura said sadly, looking down at her still-wrapped sandwich. “everyone needs a break now and then,”

Carmilla shrugged a little, not really knowing what to say. 

“I could bring you back some sweets from Honeydukes,” Laura said suddenly, looking up again. “since you can’t go,”

Carmilla looked up at her, her neck growing warm as she fought to keep her little smile from turning into a full blown grin. She dug in her pocket and pulled out two Galleons, and dropped them in from of Laura. “As long as you promise get enough for you too,” She said, her eyes soft. 

(Laura came back that Saturday evening with a bulging bag from Honeydukes, filled with enough chocolate frogs, treacle fudge, licorice wands, fizzing whizbees, and exploding bonbons to last them both a month.)


	7. Stars and Candles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope all you wonderful people are doing well :) Here's chapter 7! It's pretty sickeningly fluffy, and as ypu probably know, the title of this chapter is a nod to the old Hollstein ship name. I hope you all enjoy, and if you have any questions or want to talk, feel free to hit up my tumblr :)

Carmilla’s birthday was coming up, and Laura was feeling rather irked. 

Carmilla hadn’t told her. Laura had found out when she’d happened to see Professor Flitwick’s class roster when she’d stayed after class to ask him a question. She nearly dropped her books.

Six days. She had exactly six days until November fifth.

Laura was sitting up in bed on October the thirtieth, tucked under her covers with various catalogues sprawled across her lap. Seeing as she very well couldn’t go to a shop and buy something, she’d resorted to ordering something through the post. She just didn’t know what that something was yet. Carmilla wasn’t much into Quidditch (much to Laura’s dismay) and being pureblood, Carmilla didn’t know _anything_ about muggle pop culture (a fact that Laura vowed to change). Carmilla didn’t talk often about herself, or much about what she liked. All Laura knew was that Carmilla liked books, chocolate, and sarcasm. 

_Wait a minute._

Carmilla liked the stars.

Laura had caught her, more than once, gazing out the window in the library during their late night study sessions when the night sky was clear and the stars were visible. And she’d seen Carmilla with her nose in various astronomy books over the last couple months, and if she wasn’t mistaken, Astronomy was the other class that Carmilla mentioned having good marks in. Laura grinned and tossed aside the catalogue she was currently looking in, and reached for the one that sat by her feet. 

\-------

Carmilla strode into the Great Hall on the morning of the fifth, resisting the urge to rub the sleep from her eyes so as not to smudge her eyeliner. She’d been up late reading and lost track of time, like every other night. When she woke up that morning, halfway under her covers with her book on her chest, she’d momentarily forgotten that it was her birthday. It wasn’t the first time, since she’d never really celebrated it unless she was with Mattie. When she was little, Mattie would ask the house elves at Maman’s estate to make something small for her, and then they’d share it up in Mattie’s room after dinner, and then when Mattie was older, she’d usually get something for Carmilla, like a book or an LP. Carmilla would do something similar for Mattie when her birthday rolled around in August, usually ordering something by owl for her. Neither of them bothered with Will, but Will never bothered with them either. 

Carmilla slid into her seat at the Hufflepuff table, nodding to LaFontaine and Perry (Perry looking far more energized than LaFontaine) who were already sitting at the table and loading their plates. She ran a hand through her hair and then reached for the Chokoa Bats, filling her cereal bowl and then adding milk. 

“Carm!” An excited voice called, causing Carmilla to look up. Laura was trotting, nearly running, down the aisle between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, her hands held behind her back and an excited smile plastered on her face. 

“Morning, cupcake,” Carmilla said with a smirk, her eyes brightening as they always did around Laura. 

Laura sat down beside Carmilla, nearly slipping off the bench in her haste, and then flashed Carmilla that blinding smile once again. “Happy birthday, Carm!” She said excitedly. Whatever she’d been holding behind her back was now tucked out of sight on her lap.

Carmilla’s brows raised in surprise as her stomach flipped. “How--how did you know it was my birthday?” She asked, tripping over her words a little. 

“I saw it on Flitwick’s class roster. _Someone_ forgot mention it.” Laura answered with a mock glare, but she grinned again a moment later. “Here!” She said excitedly, thrusting a package that was a little over a foot long into Carmilla’s hands. “Happy birthday!”

Carmilla stared at it for a moment, her stomach fluttering madly. “You got me something?” She asked, looking at Laura with wide eyes.

“Well yeah, silly,” Laura laughed, despite her heart nearly thumping out of her chest. She _really, really_ hoped Carmilla would like it. “it’s your birthday. Open it,” She urged, bumping her shoulder against Carmilla’s. 

Carmilla desperately tried to control the blush that she felt creeping up her neck as she carefully pulled the blue paper from the package, reveling a long box emblazoned with a golden Flourish and Blotts stamp. She eased the top off, and inside, she found a large roll of what looked like parchment, and tucked in on one side, something wrapped in paper and foil. She pulled that out first and bit back a smile when she saw that it was a large chocolate bar from Honeydukes—it was the one with crushed hazelnuts mixed in, her absolute favorite. She glanced at Laura, who was smiling nervously at her, barely containing a smile herself as she set the chocolate aside. She then put the box out and pulled the parchment from it. 

The smile slid from her face as she finished unrolling it. 

It was a star chart. 

Two large, mottled deep blue circles overlapped each other on the parchment, representing the night sky as all the constellations, carefully drawn in silver ink, rotated ever so slowly in a circular motion overtop the blue circles. An exquisitely detailed drawing of the sun was nestled between the circles at the top of the paper, and one of the moon, reflecting its current phase, was in the same position at the bottom. Intricate runes bordered the parchment, and among various annotations that were printed in the empty space around the circles, was _C. Karnstein_ , written beautifully on the top right hand corner. Laura had gotten it monogrammed. 

Laura swallowed nervously, her stomach twisting more and more the longer Carmilla was silent. Her palms felt sweaty, and she absently rubbed them on her robes. “Do…do you like it?” She asked tentatively, her brows pulled together.

Carmilla snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Laura, her eyes shining. “It’s amazing,” She said softly, rolling it back up and carefully placing it back in the box. “thanks, cupcake,” Her smile was small, but it was the softest Laura had ever seen her. 

Laura’s face broke into a huge grin and she leaned forward, wrapping Carmilla in a crushing hug. Carmilla melted into the hug after a moment, wrapping her arms tightly around Laura’s waist and lightly resting her chin on Laura’s shoulder. She still wasn’t quite used to this hugging thing, but she was warming up to it. Not that she’d ever fess up to it. The last time Laura had hugged her, she’d been so overwhelmed that she hadn’t noticed what Laura smelled like—a fact that she was suddenly all too aware of.

Laura smelled like honey and lavender, and a little bit like leather from her satchel. Carmilla liked it, a lot, and she absently took in a deep breath, and let it out with a sigh.

“Happy birthday, Carm,” Laura said again, but softer this time. 

Carmilla felt her cheeks burn. “Thanks, Laura,”

(When an owl arrived a little while later holding a small, formal notecard with the businesslike note of _‘100 Galleons has been added to your vault. – L. Morgan’_ written on it, Carmilla couldn’t bring herself to bat an eye at Maman’s absolute lack of sentimentality or care.)

(Mattie sent her the new Weird Sisters LP, and a card.)

\-------

Later on that night, Laura was lying in bed, staring up at the yellow fabric that was draped about her four poster bed, and watched through a gap in the fabric as tiny, soft, and slowly flashing lights, reminiscent of lightning bugs, floated around the room. Her plush patchwork quilt was pulled up to her chin, but she didn’t really notice. Her mind was far away in Ravenclaw tower, where she knew Carmilla was probably sitting up in bed with her nose in a book. 

Laura’s stomach fluttered as she remembered the smile that had spread across Carmilla’s face when she’d opened her present, but the butterflies dimmed again when she remembered the disbelieving look Carmilla had given her when she’d handed Carmilla her gift. And the fact that Carmilla hadn’t told her about her birthday. Carmilla’s eyes had brightened when a great horned owl had soared in, carrying a large, flat, square package with a card attached. It was from her sister, Carmilla had said, but as far as Laura could tell, nothing had come from Carmilla’s mother, which made the little Hufflepuff uneasy. 

Sometimes Laura forgot that she really didn’t know much about Carmilla. She _knew_ her, but she didn’t know a lot _about_ her. She knew how Carmilla liked her coffee and her tea, and how she’d drink cocoa when she needed cheering up. She knew that Carmilla nearly always had a copy of The Stranger in her bag, even if she wasn’t reading it at the moment. She’d noticed how Carmilla would run her thumb along the handle of her wand when she was nervous, or thinking. Carmilla was a lefty, and sometimes would have a streak of ink staining the side of her hand from writing and accidentally running her hand through the ink before it dried. She caught Carmilla hiding a real smile once in a while, not just a smirk, and she knew that Carmilla preferred slouching to good posture. 

But she still didn’t _know_ Carmilla, and it bothered her. She wanted to know her so badly, know how her mind worked and why she clamped up and wouldn’t give more information than necessary when it came to her family. She wanted to know her fears and what made her happy and what she wanted to do after Hogwarts…she just wanted to know her, and know why she looked so lonely sometimes. 

Laura sighed and rolled onto her side as she realized that Carmilla didn’t really know much about her either. 

\-------

Carmilla was sitting up in bed with the star chart spread out over her lap, and the chocolate bar in her right hand. A candle flickered beside her on her night stand, and her wand was out, it’s tip illuminated as she examined the chart closely. She’d been itching to really examine it all day, and she’d been lost in it now for nearly an hour already. 

She was still in awe that Laura had gotten it for her, that Laura had known it was her birthday. She’d never mentioned it, mostly because she didn’t think it was all that important. Maman never made a fuss about it before, just telling Carmilla that she’d added money to her Gringotts vault and leaving it at that. Despite how that had always stung, Carmilla always tried to focus on the fact that that meant getting out of Maman’s estate faster when she graduated Hogwarts. 

But Laura. Laura had found out and thought it important enough an occasion to buy her a beautiful gift, and gently chastise her for not telling her when it was. For a moment, Carmilla tried to hide a smile before forgetting she didn’t have to, being tucked into bed with her curtains drawn. Carmilla leaned back against her pillow and took a bite of the chocolate bar, staring at nothing for a while as a smile played with her lips. 

How had she ever gotten so lucky as to call Laura a friend?

Kind, stubborn, wide-eyed Laura who would would whip her wand out at any boy who called her cute, but would let Carmilla call her ‘cutie’ with an affectionate roll of her eyes. Laura, who was an absolute cookie and cocoa fiend, who would help her with her charms work and not poke fun at her over it, who got upset when she found out that Carmilla couldn’t go to Hogsmede because she thought Carmilla deserved a fun break like everyone else. 

When Laura found out that Carmilla didn’t have her own owl, she offered the use of her own little tawny owl, Frodo. 

She knew what classes Laura liked, and which Quidditch team was her favorite, that she liked the Seeker position the best, how she took her tea, but that she usually only drank tea when she wasn’t feeling so good. 

Carmilla’s brows furrowed though, when she realized that she didn’t really know a lot about Laura’s life. She knew her mannerisms, sure, but not her story. 

Carmilla took another bite of the chocolate bar and sighed as that thought whirled around her head.


	8. Anniversaries and the Come and Go Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm so sorry this is coming a little later in the day than usual. I got caught up in a bunch of stuff today and totally forgot it was update day for this fic. As always, thank you all so much for reading, commenting and leaving kudos, this series has become really important to me, and it means the world that you guys are enjoying it too <3 Don't forget to swing by the HPSLAU page on my tumblr for extras, and if you have any questions or want to chat, feel free to send me a message!

It was about a week and a half later when Carmilla sat down to breakfast, only to find the spot on the bench beside her empty. She eyed it curiously for a moment before shrugging it off and reaching for a mug and a teabag. It wasn’t that uncommon that Carmilla would, on the off chance, get to the Great Hall before Laura. 

The worry didn’t really set in until another twenty minutes had passed, and everyone else was sitting at the table. 

Carmilla set her fork down, her stomach churning just a little too much to eat. “Where’s Laura?” She finally asked, leaning forward. “Is she sick?”

The others paused and glanced at each other before looking back to Carmilla.

“She didn’t tell you?” JP asked, looking confused.

“Tell me what?” Carmilla huffed, losing her patience. 

Perry glanced at LaFontaine, a conflicted look on her face, before looking back to Carmilla. “It’s the anniversary of her mother’s death,” She said, fiddling with the clasp on her robes.

Carmilla’s heart plummeted to her stomach. _Laura’s mother was dead?_

LaFontaine’s brows pulled together at Carmilla’s blank look. “Haven’t you noticed how she only talks about her dad?”

“Well, yeah,” Carmilla said, fidgeting in her seat. “I just thought that her parents were divorced, or something,”

“To be fair, we didn’t know until last year,” Perry said.

“Yeah, Little Nerd Hottie would just sort of disappear once a year and then come back the next day like nothing happened.” Kirsch shrugged, stabbing a chunk potato with his fork. “We don’t know where she goes,” 

“And nobody’d gone to look for her?” Carmilla asked, beginning to get irritated. 

“Well, yeah, we did,” LaFontaine said, “but we could never find her,”

Carmilla sighed and grabbed a scone from one of the baskets that were set out on the table before getting up and striding out of the Great Hall as she tried to figure out where Laura might be.

\-----

Carmilla’s heart thumped uncomfortably in her chest as she walked down to the corridor where the Hufflepuff common room was located. She knew she couldn’t get inside, and anyway Perry would have seen her if she was in there, but she figured that the corridor would be as good a place to start as any. 

Carmilla quietly walked down the corridor, glancing behind each torch pillar and then checking in the small broom closet that was located at the end of the corridor. 

Nothing. 

Carmilla turned and walked back down the corridor, moving faster this time as her thumb started rubbing back and forth on the handle of her wand. She jogged up the stairs and headed to the next corridor, determined to comb the entire castle if she had to. She needed to know Laura was alright.

\-----

Five hours.

It’d been five hours since Carmilla began looking for Laura, and she still hadn’t found a trace of the tiny Hufflepuff. It was like Laura had just gone up in smoke. (Which she knew wasn’t true, of course--she had to be _somewhere_ , and she had a ways to go before learning how to apparate. Not that you even could within the school grounds.) Carmilla’s nerves were getting frayed. Over the last five hours she’s deftly dodged several teachers, and on four occasions, Mrs. Norris, and Peeves on one occasion, who threatened to rat her out. He then proceeded to shut up when she threatened to rat _him_ out to Headmistress McGonagall. That left her smirking for a good fifteen minutes. 

That smirk was long gone now, though. It was nearly dinner, and Carmilla was walking down the seventh floor corridor, exhausted, with her feet aching, and more worried than ever. She’d searched every floor, the dungeons (which she didn’t think Laura would go to, but she was determined to cover her bases) the owlry, the courtyards, the boathouse. She even checked in with Hagrid. Nothing. Her jaw was constantly clenched, and she was sure if she didn’t stop herself, she’d wear her wand down to a splinter. 

She _needed_ to find Laura.

Carmilla jumped slightly as the wall beside her started to shift, the sound of stone grating against stone filling the still air of the corridor. She watched curiously as a door formed, one with a rounded top and a circular window from which warm, golden light spilled. The door creaked open, and a little warily, Carmilla peered in.

Her brows rose. “Laura?” She asked, her body flooding with relief.

Not ten feet from Carmilla, sat Laura, amidst a pile of plush pillows and colorful patchwork quilts, with one wrapped around her shoulders. The room was small but warm, with a little fireplace to the right, and a worn area rug beneath the pile of pillow and blankets that seemed to engulf Laura. Beside Laura was a tray of milk and cookies that she’d no doubt been slowly working on, and on her lap was an old Gryffindor scarf.

“Carm?” Laura asked, her voice scratchy and a little confused.

Carmilla finally looked to Laura, having been momentarily distracted with wanting to know if Laura’s surroundings were safe, and her heart seized. Laura’s face was tear streaked, her eyes tired and sadder than Carmilla had ever seen before. The fire cast golden light across Laura’s face, turning the wet streaks to rivulets of gold and her eyes to shimmering pools of stars. Carmilla watched as Laura pulled the quilt a little tighter around herself, seeming to shrink into it under Carmilla’s gaze.

“Hey,” Carmilla said softly, her eyebrows pulled together as she stood there.

“Hey,” Laura said quietly, looking down at her lap.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Carmilla said, not sure what else to say.

Laura looked up, her eyes confused. “You have?” 

“Well, yeah,” Carmilla said, fidgeting as she stood there. “the others told me what today is...I...I wanted to make sure you were okay,” 

Laura just stared at her, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. _Carmilla came looking for her?_ The dead feeling that had been residing in Laura’s stomach shifted a little, fluttering, as a new lump formed in her throat. She’d wanted to tell Carmilla, but she hadn’t known how. Part of her had just wanted to see Carmilla all day, while the other had hoped that maybe Carmilla wouldn’t mention it. 

She was infinitely grateful that the former worked out.

Carmilla swallowed thickly and glanced behind herself. “I can go, if you want to be alone,”

“No!” Laura said, and then winced a little, not meaning for it come out so loud. “No,” She said again, quieter this time. “please stay, i-if that’s okay,”

Carmilla nodded and stepped forward, shedding her robes before she sat down. She dropped them onto the floor next to her as she settled beside Laura, and waited for Laura to speak.

“Hey,” Laura whispered, looking over at Carmilla.

Carmilla smiled a tiny bit. “Hey,”

Laura let out a small, bitter laugh. “You probably think I’m ridiculous-”

“No,” Carmilla said gently, cutting her off. “I don’t,” Her eyes fell to the worn Gryffindor scarf that sat on Laura’s lap. “was that her’s?”

Laura looked down as well, and nodded. “Yeah,” She sniffled. “my mum was a Gryffindor,”

Carmilla nodded. “What...what happened to her?” She asked softly.

“She was killed.” Laura said simply with the voice of someone who’d given the same answer a thousand times. “She was an Auror, and the dark wizard she was hunting killed her,” She sniffled. “I was six.”

Carmilla’s heart seized again, her stomach suddenly feeling sick as she remembered why Laura’s last name had always sounded so familiar. She _had_ seen it in The Daily Prophet. An Auror death at the hands of a dark wizard after the Second Wizarding War was automatically front page news. Carmilla did her best to swallow the sick feeling in her gut and looked back to Laura. She knew ‘sorry’ wouldn’t help, so she asked the only thing that made sense at this moment. “What was she like?” 

Laura looked up at her, a little taken aback by her question, but then cracked a tiny smile. “She was awesome,” Laura said simply, with a little shrug of her shoulders. “She _loved_ the Holyhead Harpies. That tee shirt I have? It was hers.” Carmilla smiled a little and nodded, gently encouraging her to continue. “She had light brown hair, and dad said she was a little taller than I am now...I don’t really remember myself, I was so much smaller then. She had blue eyes, but dad still says I look like her even though I have his eyes. She was really spunky from what I remember, she was always doing something, or fixing something, or gardening. Dad’s not a very good handyman, so mum always fixed whatever needed fixing around the house. She liked to cook too...she kind of did a little of everything,” Laura stared down at her lap as she spoke, gently flicking a tassel back and forth on the end of the scarf. “She still had a couple Gryffindor pennants up around the house. I wanted to be a Gryffindor for a while because of her, but she told me about the other houses, and said she’d be proud no matter what house I was sorted into,”

Carmilla smiled a little, though the knot in her stomach remained. Laura shouldn’t have had to grow up without her mother. The thought made her angry, and she clenched her hand for a moment before realizing what she was doing. 

Laura had stopped talking, and had a look of concentration on her face. “She liked hot cocoa and cookies, too, and she was so nice to everyone. Didn’t matter who you were. She told me bedtime stories too sometimes, when she was home at night,” She said finally, and then shook her head. “things are getting fuzzy,” She said in a small voice. 

“It sounds like you remembered the important things, cupcake,” Carmilla said still fiddling with the handle of her wand. A few red sparks flew out of the end, causing Laura to let out a small, watery laugh. Carmilla felt her cheeks burn red and she hastily tucked her wand away in the pocket on the inside of her robes.

Laura picked up a cookie and held it out to Carmilla. “Want one?” She asked.

“Sure,” Carmilla said with a small smile as she took it. She watched for a moment as Laura picked up one for herself, looking thoughtful. Carmilla eventually took a bite of her own, leaning against the wall with a sigh.

“Hey, Carm?” Laura asked after a quiet moment, her eyes looking suddenly nervous.

“Hmm?” Carmilla hummed, looking back to her.

“What’s your family like?” Laura asked, and then bit her lip, glancing down at her lap for a moment. “You’re never really talked much about them...” She’d been curious about Carmilla’s family since that day on the train, and honestly, she was also looking for a distraction.

Carmilla stiffened and swallowed hard, her fingers bunching slightly in her robes. “My family is...ah...not very nice, except for my sister,” Carmilla said quietly. Laura looked up at her with sad, questioning eyes. “Have you ever met Will Luce?” Carmilla continued. 

Laura’s face scrunched up in obvious distaste. “Yeah, he’s in my year. He’s always so mean to everyone, and he walks around like he owns the place.” Laura paused. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“He’s my brother,” Carmilla said, heaving a sigh.

“ _He’s_ your brother?” Laura asked, her eyes widening. “I had no idea, with the different names...”

Carmilla nodded. “He and my sister are adopted,” She stared down at her robes, and picked a stray piece of lint off the black fabric in an attempt to keep her hands busy. “my mother picked them because she sensed that they had great magical talent...and that they were both orphans of pureblood parents,”

“Shouldn’t she have picked them because she loved them?” Laura asked, her brows knitting together in confusion.

Carmilla huffed a humorless laugh. “No. I don’t think she’s capable of loving anything, except for maybe her status in certain circles.” Carmilla glanced at Laura, and saw that she was still confused. “My family is known for being nearly all Animagi,”

Laura’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute, _you’re_ an Animagus?” She asked, awe in her voice.

Carmilla grimaced a little and nodded. “Yeah,” She glanced at Laura momentarily, but couldn’t look at that awed expression for long. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Laura asked, still dumbfounded. “Are you not registered or something?”

Carmilla shook her head. “No, I am.” She said, running her fingers through her hair. “I just don’t like being an Animagus. Maman made me learn when I was small.”

“She forced you?” Laura asked, her voice growing quiet and her face dropping as her heart plummeted to her feet. Her arm snaked out from under the blanket that was around her shoulders, and she reached for Carmilla’s hand. 

“Yeah,” Carmilla said, glancing at her. “I mastered shifting at the end of last year.” Her breath caught in her throat as Laura’s hand settled over her own. She curled her fingers around Laura’s carefully after a moment. “Maman started me going at it when I was seven,”

Laura gaped at Carmilla, her eyes welling up again. Who would force their child to do that when they were so young? It wasn’t a secret that becoming an Animagus was incredibly complex and dangerous magic for an adult wizard, let along for someone so little. Laura knew that most people would probably be incredibly impressed that someone as young as Carmilla had already mastered shifting (and yeah, she was too) but all she could feel was a sick churning in her gut at the thought of the hell she must have gone through to learn to shift. “I’m sorry, Carm,” Laura whispered, squeezing Carmilla’s hand.

Carmilla shrugged a little with one shoulder. “It’s okay, cutie,” She said, desperately trying not to look as flustered as she felt. “She did it with Mattie and Will too.” She added after a moment. “That was part of the reason why she picked them, to carry on the tradition. Will still hasn’t learned to shift yet, but Mattie learned by her fifth year. She turns into a lioness,”

Laura nodded, and bit her lip for a moment, wondering if she dared ask. “What do you turn into?” She asked quietly, absently running her thumb back and forth along Carmilla’s.

“A panther,” Carmilla said, staring at their intertwined hands.

A ghost of a smile pulled at Laura’s lips. “That makes sense, you scream creature of the night.” 

Carmilla breathed out a laugh. “I do, do I?”

“Are you kidding?” Laura said, “I’d peg you as a vampire if I hadn’t personally seen your very human, non-pointy teeth,”

“Well who’s to say they don’t retract?” Carmilla smirked. 

Laura rolled her eyes, letting out a small, watery laugh. She was quiet for a while before asking the question that was pinging around in her head. “Can I see?”

Carmilla raised an eyebrow, confused. “Cupcake, I eat with you every day, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen my teeth--”

“No,” Laura said, shaking her head. “I, uh...meant your Animagus form,”

Carmilla tensed up a little. “Oh,” She said quietly. 

“I just...want to see you,” Laura said.

“Okay,” Carmilla said softly, nodding a little bit. She gently pulled her hand from Laura’s and concentrated, letting the feeling of the shift bubble up inside her. It’d been a while since she shifted--once she got it down she really only did it when Maman requested--but it still came easily. It wasn’t something you forgot. 

Laura watched in awe as Carmilla’s form quickly yet gracefully shifted into that of a _massive_ black cat. She stared, wide-eyed as Carmilla stood in front of her, easily three feet tall from her feet to her shoulders. Her eyes were the same though, which made Laura smile as she reached out to touch Carmilla’s cheek.

Laura bit her lip, and paused. “Is this okay?” She asked, her hand a few inches from Carmilla’s face. Carmilla nodded and let out a breath through her nose, blinking slowly. Laura’s smile widened and she reached out the rest of the way, laying her hands on either side of Carmilla’s face. “You’re adorable, Carm,”

Carmilla huffed and rolled her eyes, making Laura laugh. “Yes, yes, you’re a _fearsome_ creature,” Laura said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as well.

Carmilla looked smugly satisfied for a moment before Laura spoke again.

“You’re really beautiful, too,” Laura said quietly, which made Carmilla pause. 

Carmilla cocked her head a little, looking at Laura with soft, wide eyes. She was eternally grateful that she couldn’t blush when she was like this because she was fairly certain that she would resemble a tomato at the moment. Her stomach could still flutter though, and it was fluttering madly. Maman had called her Animagus form many things, but never beautiful, and she could feel a lump forming in her throat. Carmilla leaned forward and bumped her forehead against Laura’s before gently touching Laura’s cheek with the tip of her tongue. 

Laura giggled at the feeling, and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Carmilla’s neck in a hug. “Thanks for coming to find me, Carm,” She whispered into her fur as she nuzzled into Carmilla’s neck. Her fur was incredibly soft, and she was so _warm_. Laura didn’t want to let go.

After a moment or two, Carmilla shifted back, but Laura still kept her arms around her neck, her face buried in Carmilla’s hair. Carmilla scooted forward and wrapped her arms around Laura’s waist, letting out a contented sigh. “Of course, Laura,”


	9. Hogsmede

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! So Sorry for the delayed update, this week has been kinda weird and I also got caught up in some other projects and lost track of time. I hope you all like this chapter, and as always thanks so much for the comments/kudos, views! My inbox is always open over on tumblr if anyone wants to chat or has any questions about this AU :)

“Miss Karnstien, a moment please!” 

Carmilla looked up from packing her bag to find Professor Flitwick beckoning to her. She sighed and slung her bag over her shoulder, expecting to get another ribbing for not paying attention in class. 

“Yes, Professor?” She asked, coming to a stop in front of his desk.

“Your mother has sent an owl giving you permission to begin attending the Hogsmede trips,” Professor Flitwick said in his squeaky voice, holding out a slip of parchment. “just give this to Headmistress McGonagall tomorrow morning before you leave to go to the village,”

Carmilla stared down at the slip of paper, her eyes wide. _Where had this come from?_ She looked back up at Professor Flitwick after a moment, realizing that she should probably answer him. “Right, thanks,” She took the paper from him and began to walk towards the door, still in a little bit of a daze. 

“Oh, and Miss Karnstein?” He called, causing Carmilla to stop and turn around. “You’re doing much better in Charms lately, what changed?”

Carmilla felt her stomach flip. “A friend is helping me,” She said after a moment.

“That’s good,” Professor Flitwick smiled. “maybe you could work on paying attention more often too. Off you go,”

Carmilla turned with a roll of her eyes, but couldn’t stop the tiny smile that made her lips twitch as she thought of Laura. She fought to keep her smile small when she realized what the slip of paper in her hand meant. _She could go to Hogsmede with Laura._ Carmilla’s heart fluttered as that sunk in. Laura had been so disappointed when she found out that Carmilla wasn’t allowed to go to the village, but she’d brought back a giant bag of sweets for them to share. She still had a few licorice wands and a fizzing whizzbee or two in the drawer of her nightstand. 

Carmilla tucked the slip of parchment into her pocket, and made her way down to the Great Hall for dinner. 

\-------

“Thank Merlin there’s a Hogsmede trip tomorrow, I’m running out of dung bombs,” LaFontaine said excitedly.

“Sweetie, don’t you think it’d be good to maybe step back with the dung bombs?” Perry said worriedly. “One of the Ravenclaw prefects said you stunk up the entire common room last week,”

“Exactly,” LaFontaine said with a nod. “That’s why I need _more_ ,”

Carmilla rolled her eyes as she sat down beside Laura and stuffed her bag under the table. The gang, with the exception of Danny, still, was all seated at the table, cheerily discussing their Hogsmede plans as they waited for the food to appear. 

“Hey Carm,” Laura said brightly, a wide smile on her face. Her insides fluttered as she felt Carmilla lean against her shoulder briefly. This was really getting out of hand but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Hey, cutie,” Carmilla smirked, running a hand through her hair.

“There’s a Hogsmede trip tomorrow,” Laura said as she turned to her, suddenly looking a little sad. “I really wish you were allowed to come...I really wanted to see you on my birthday. Maybe we could hang out in the library when I get back? Oh, and I can get us more sweets from Honeydukes to share!”

Carmilla’s stomach flipped as she tried to contain a smile. “Well, actually...” She began, taking out the slip of parchment and handing it to Laura. 

Laura took the parchment and read it over, her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. Her face suddenly lit up, a thousand-watt smile pulling at her lips. “You can go to Hogsmede?!” She gasped, her eyes wide.

Carmilla nodded, smiling as well, despite trying to contain herself. Laura squealed and threw her arms around Carmilla’s neck, hugging her tight.

“But how??” Laura asked, suddenly pulling away with a confused look on her face. 

“Maman sent her permission,” Carmilla said with a little shrug as she looked down at the paper. “I expect it’s some sort of bribe though, probably to get me to stay at the manor with her for the whole summer,”

Laura’s heart sank. “Will you?” She asked worriedly. 

“No,” Carmilla scoffed. “I only stay there for a few weeks, not that Maman would ever know, seeing as she’s hardly ever there. I have a room at Mattie’s flat that I stay in for most of the summer,”

Laura’s chest unclenched some. “Oh, that’s good,” She sighed in relief. 

Carmilla smiled a little and took the letter back from Laura, tucking it back into her pocket to give to McGonagall the next morning. 

“Hey Little Laura, going all out for your birthday tomorrow?” Kirsch grinned, leaning over his plate so he could look around Perry to look at Laura.

“I guess,” Laura said with a smile and a half shrug. “dad sent me some spending money this morning to use in Hogsmede tomorrow,” 

“Where do you want to go?” Carmilla asked, picking up her goblet.

“Where we usually go, I guess,” Laura smiled. “We usually go to the shops, then The Three Broomsticks for lunch,”

Carmilla nodded, mulling it over. “Well,” She started, “I’ve never been there before, so I suppose I’ll follow you,”

Laura grinned, her heart swelling. “Sounds good,”

\-------

“Do we really have to be up _this_ early?” Carmilla grumbled, her eyes squinting against the cold as she and Laura walked outside, trailing after the rest of their friends. (Carmilla had caved and actually started recently _sort of_ considering Laura’s group her friends. Maybe. But she wouldn’t admit that out loud.) 

Well, yeah, otherwise we’d miss the trip,” Laura said with a chuckle as she glanced at Carmilla. She suppressed another laugh as she watched Carmilla walk beside her. Carmilla was wrapped up in her Ravenclaw cloak with a black knitted sweater underneath and a pair of jeans, her Ravenclaw scarf wound around her neck. Despite her layers and her very warm looking boots and leather gloves, Carmilla was shivering slightly in the cold, her cheeks and the tip of her nose bright red. “Are you cold?” Laura asked, actually a little worried despite her amusement.

Carmilla looked up at her and nodded. “A little,” She said, “but I’m alright,”

Laura smiled and shook her head a little as they continued down the path, glancing at Carmilla now and then. It was snowing lightly, and the white flakes were settling in Carmilla’s dark curls and scattering over her shoulders, a stark contrast against the black wool of her cloak. Like she had the night sky wrapped around her shoulders. 

“You really like your school robes, huh?” Laura asked, breaking the silence. 

Carmilla looked over to Laura and smiled a little. “Yeah,” She nodded. “They’re warm...and the Ravenclaw crest pisses off Maman,” She said with a smirk, flashing Laura a mischievous look. 

Laura laughed at that, throwing her head back. Carmilla laughed a little as well, and decided that she liked Laura’s laugh even more than she’d originally thought. She especially like _making_ her laugh. 

“I’m sure that’s satisfying,” Laura chuckled, walking a little closer to Carmilla now.

Carmilla noticed, and her stomach did a little flip. “Immensely,” She said with a smirk.

Laura laughed and looked ahead, her face brightening even more if that was possible. “We’re almost there!” She said excitedly, pointing to the Hogsmede sign that stood about a hundred yards away. 

“Thank Merlin,” Carmilla grumbled, “it’s freezing,”

“Oh don’t be such a grump,” Laura said, glancing back at Carmilla. “you’re going to love it,”

Despite her grumpy and forever bored exterior, Carmilla actually _was_ excited. She loved Hogwarts, hell, it was more of a home than Maman’s manor ever was, but she was excited to see something else other than the castle, and to stretch her legs a bit. And she was excited to explore the village with Laura, who promised to show her everything.

Carmilla looked over at Laura and smiled into her scarf, watching the way Laura walked with a bounce in her step, her Hufflepuff scarf swishing back and forth. She had a grey beanie on her head and wore a pair of blue jeans and a sturdy looking brown coat that looked like she’d had it forever, along with a pair of brown boots that looked almost too big for her little feet. (Laura told her it was because they were insulated.) The snow was scattered over her beanie and her shoulders, catching in her hair and on the tip of her nose and Carmilla thought she’d never looked so beautiful.

A moment later, a call from up ahead shook Carmilla from her thoughts just as they were passing under the ached entrance to Hogsmede.

“Come on, you two are slower than Professor Binns!” LaFontaine called. 

Carmilla rolled her eyes but still hurried after Laura, stopping by her side again once they reached the rest of the group. 

“So where are we going first?” Perry said looking around at the rest of the group. 

“Zonkos?” LaFontaine asked hopefully.

“Maybe we should do that one last, honey,” Perry said quickly, “We don’t want one going off while we eat lunch,”

LaF grumbled under their breath but didn’t argue, knowing Perry was right. 

“Well how about Honeydukes? And then maybe the book shop?” Laura suggested looking around at the group. It wasn’t lost on her that Danny was missing, and probably off with her fellow Gryffindors, but she tried to ignore it for now. 

Carmilla perked up a little at those suggestions and glanced at Laura. 

“I think that sounds good,” Perry nodded, looking around at the group.

“I agree,” JP said with a smile. “and then maybe after we’ll go to The Three Broomsticks and then Zonkos?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kirsch said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

“It’s settled then!” Perry said happily, and started off towards Honeydukes after taking LaFontaine’s hand. 

The rest of the group trotted along after her, with Laura and Carmilla at the back again. Laura glanced at Carmilla a few times before tentatively linking her arm with Carmilla’s. Carmilla looked up in surprise, and was met with a worried pair of hazel eyes. 

“Is this okay?” Laura asked nervously.

A little smile tugged at Carmilla’s lips. “Yeah,”

\-------

Carmilla was fairly certain she’d never been more bombarded by color when she walked into Honeydukes, except for maybe that one time she’d ventured into Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Almost every surface was painted in bright pink or mint green, and candy in every color imaginable was tucked into every crevice. Huge cones of no-melt ice cream were placed on the tops of shelves, and there was an entire wall full of massive jars of hard candy. Ice mice were placed on the wall in such a way that it looked like they were skittering up the mint green planks on their own, and there was a rather impressive display in the window of hundreds of chocolate frogs, all stacked up. Exploding bonbons were doing what they do best in a glass case by the register, and chocolate bars of all flavors were wrapped in bright colors were displayed in boxes at the counter.

All that wasn’t even the half of it.

“Little overwhelming, huh?” Laura asked with a grin, watching Carmilla take it all in. 

“A bit,” Carmilla nodded, looking round, and finally taking in the scent of sugar and chocolate. 

“Come on, I’ll show you where everything is,” Laura said, tugging on Carmilla’s hand. 

Carmilla glanced down at their joined hands and bit back a grin before trailing after Laura.

\------

Nearly an hour later, Laura and Carmilla emerged from Honeydukes, each with a bag of chocolate frogs, ice mice, exploding bonbons, and in Carmilla’s case, a few of those hazelnut chocolate bars. 

Despite showing Carmilla around the shop, Laura had had a bit of a hard time concentrating simply because it was Carmilla who was with her. Carmilla was always distracting, but somehow she was even more so today, and not only because Carmilla’s hand never left her own. Even though Carmilla still had her bored look plastered on, Laura still caught an excited glint in her eye now and then, and that little smile that sometimes graced her face when she found the kind of candy that Mattie used to send her after her own Hogsmede trips when Mattie was still attending Hogwarts. She’d explained that getting packages from Mattie had always been the highlight of her day when she was still stuck at home with just Maman and Will before she was old enough to go to Hogwarts. 

Laura noticed about halfway through their excursion into Honeydukes, that the butterflies had given way to this warm feeling in her chest that only intensified when she looked at Carmilla, or caught Carmilla looking at her.

The two of them were now bundled up again, deciding to way outside until the others were done. It was starting to get rather packed inside Honeydukes, and uncomfortably warm what with all the layers they were wearing. Carmilla was nibbling on a chocolate frog while Laura had a sucker tucked into her cheek as they sat on the bench outside the shop. 

“I think we’re set for a few months,” Laura said with a laugh, looking at the two bags that sat beside them on the bench.

Carmilla looked at them as well and shrugged. “The way you love sweets?” She said with a smirk, “We’ll be out before the next trip,” 

Laura laughed and shoved her lightly. “Yeah yeah, okay,” Laura said with a playful roll of her eyes. 

Carmilla smiled, chuckling a little as well. Her chuckle died off though and was replaced by an annoyed look as the rest of the gang filtered out of the candy shop. She’d wanted a few more minutes alone with Laura, and the gingers always seemed to interrupt that. 

“On to the book store?” JP said excitedly, fixing his watch cap and shivering a little at the sudden change in temperature. 

“Yeah!” Laura said excitedly as she stood up. “there’s a new book on the Holyhead Harpies that I’ve had my eye on for _weeks_...”

Carmilla smiled to herself as she got up as well and picked up her bag. Laura’s birthday gift was tucked into her pocket, and she felt for it for the umpteenth time to make sure it was still there. If Laura was excited about that book, Carmilla hoped she’d be excited about her gift. 

\------

“They have it!” Laura squealed excitedly, bouncing over to the display of gold and green books. Carmilla followed behind her and looked over her shoulder at the book Laura held in her hands. “It’s Gwenog Jones’ memoir,” Laura explained, looking back at Carmilla, though she was suddenly startled when she realized how close Carmilla’s face was to her’s. She looked away quickly, blush creeping up her cheeks. 

Carmilla noticed as well and quickly stepped back, running a hand nervously through her hair. “Are you going to get it?” She asked.

Laura nodded, smiling widely again. “Are you going to get a book?” She asked, tucking the book under her arm.

Carmilla looked around and nodded. “I might,” She said, and then scratched the back of her neck. “but I was also wondering if I could borrow the books that come after The Hobbit,”

“Of course!” Laura said, flashing Carmilla that blinding grin. 

\------

Later on in the afternoon, everyone was crammed into a booth at The Three Broomsticks, nursing warm butterbeers as they waited for their food, coats, hats, and scarves forgotten on the hooks that were nailed to the end of the booth. Carmilla was squashed into a seat beside JP, but she couldn’t care less because pressed up on her other side, was Laura. 

“Good birthday so far, L?” LaFontaine asked after taking a long drink of butterbeer and wiping away their foam mustache. 

“Yeah, really good,” Laura said with a grin, drumming her fingers on her mug. She glanced at Carmilla with a smile. “Hogsmede living up to your expectations?” She asked the Ravenclaw.

Carmilla grunted noncommittally and shrugged. “I suppose so,” 

Perry was about to say something, but a waiter came by with their food and distracted them all. Laura tore her eyes away from Carmilla as a plate was set down before her, hoping nobody would notice that she’d been staring at Carmilla. She busied herself with her lunch, tuning out of the conversation for a moment. Birthdays had sometimes been a bit rough since she started going to Hogwarts because she was away from home and couldn’t see her dad, but this year had actually been really nice, which was due largely in part to the Ravenclaw beside her.

“Hey, cupcake,” Carmilla said quietly, lightly tapping a finger against Laura’s thigh. “you okay?”

Laura looked up from her fish and chips and smiled softly, seeing the concerned look in Carmilla’s eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. Great, actually,” She said, and her chest fluttered as she watched Carmilla’s eyes soften and her brow smooth out. “just zoned out for a minute,”

Carmilla smiled a little and nodded, her hand leaving Laura’s thigh to rest on the table. Laura tried to ignore how much she missed the warmth of her hand, and took a sip of butterbeer. 

“Carm?” Laura asked after a minute, fiddling with the zipper on her sweatshirt. 

“Hmm?” Carmilla hummed, looking back at Laura after taking a bite of roast beef. 

“Today’s been really great,” Laura said, “it’s kinda hard sometimes, always being away from home on my birthday, but it’s been really nice this year,” She ducked her head a little. “I still miss my dad, of course, but having you here has made it really, really nice, and I know you didn’t have to hang out with us and I know that my friends mostly annoy you, but I really appreciate you coming and--”

“Cutie,” Carmilla said, cutting her off gently as she placed a hand on Laura’s arm. Her mind was reeling, though she tried to stay composed on the outside. _She_ had made Laura’s birthday _better?_ Just be being there? “Don’t mention it,” She said giving her arm a gentle squeeze. She bit her lip. “thanks for having me along,”

Laura smiled and nodded laying her hand on Carmilla’s for a moment. She turned to sat something to Perry, but found that LaFontaine and Perry were suddenly missing from the table.

“Perry and LaF went to the bathroom,” Kirsch said, getting up. “JP and I are going to get more butterbeers for everyone, you guys want a refill?”

“Oh, sure,” Laura said with a nod, and handed Kirsch her mug as Carmilla handed her’s to JP. The two suddenly found themselves alone at the table, and the butterflies in Carmilla’s stomach went into overdrive. 

“Cupcake?” She asked after a moment, pulling the little box out from her pocket, but keeping it under the table.

Laura looked up at her with a mouthful of food, and Carmilla had to bite back a laugh as she waited for Laura to finish chewing. “Yeah?” Laura said once she was finished.

“I know you wanted to do presents later, but I kind of wanted to give you mine...alone,” She said nervously, fidgeting with the box. She took a breath and placed the little box on the table. “happy birthday, Laura,” 

Laura’s eyes widened and she looked from the box, to Carmilla, and back to the box before picking it up. She slowly opened it, and her mouth dropped open. “Carm...” She breathed, picking up the necklace and setting the box down again. 

“I know how much you like quidditch, and the Harpies,” Carmilla said, running her thumb along her wand. “I saw it in a catalogue and I thought you’d like it. It’s, uh, specific to the Harpies,” 

In Laura’s hand rested a tiny golden snitch hanging from a delicate silver chain, it’s wings outstretched with an eagle’s foot wrapped around it. 

“The chain is charmed to never break,” Carmilla added, filling the silence as Laura gawked at the pendant.

“Carm, it’s beautiful, but this must have cost so much it’s way too much,” She said quickly, looking up at Carmilla.

Carmilla shook her head. “Cupcake, my mother has absurd amounts of money and just gives me some whenever there’s an occasion that calls for a gift,” She explained. “I have plenty,”

Laura nodded, looking back down at the necklace. “it’s beautiful, thank you so much,” She said, nearly on the verge of tears. 

Carmilla’s heart swelled, and she smiled. “Do you want me to put it on you?”

Laura nodded happily, and turned around after handing the necklace to Carmilla. Carmilla gathered Laura’s hair to pull it to one side, and was immediately engulfed with the scent of honey and lavender. Carmilla shook her head a little to clear it, and then looped the necklace around Laura’s neck, carefully clasping it. “There,” She said with a small smile, smoothing Laura’s hair out again.

Laura turned around with a smile, her hand on the pendant. She bit her lip for a moment and then leaned forward and kissed Carmilla’s cheek. “Thanks, Carm,” She said, and hugged her tightly. 

Carmilla smiled into Laura’s shoulder as she hugged her back. Her heart swelled when she felt Laura’s grip on her tighten, and she sighed contentedly. “No problem, creampuff,”


	10. Christmas Letters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's been a while! Sorry for the abrupt hiatus, my computer started overheating for a while there and I wasn't able to use it, but it's fine now. Also I got pretty busy the last couple days, or this would have been up last night like it was supposed to be, haha.
> 
> Anyways, as always, thanks for reading and I hope you like this chapter!
> 
> EDIT: I just realized, months later, that I'm a total moron and included my chapter 10 notes at the beginning of the chapter. Sigh. So that's fixed now.

“Why the long face, cupcake?” Carmilla asked, nudging Laura’s arm gently one night during diner. “Aren’t you excited to go home tomorrow for Christmas?”

Laura looked up from her stew and smiled a little. The Great Hall was decked to the nines in holiday decorations, and the thousands of soft, twinkling lights only made Carmilla prettier with the way they reflected in her eyes and cast golden light over her dark hair. “I am,” She nodded, her eyes falling back to her dinner. “I’m just going to miss it here, and miss seeing everyone,” She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. “especially you,”

Carmilla’s eyes widened as she felt heat rise in her cheeks, and she was eternally grateful that Laura wasn’t looking at her at the moment. “It’s only for a couple weeks,” She said, her voice growing soft as she leaned a little closer to Laura after she somewhat managed to compose herself. “and we can write,”

Laura nodded and looked up, smiling a little at the soft look in Carmilla’s eyes. “Yeah, I know,” She said, dipping a piece of bread into her stew. “It’s just going to feel odd, because I’m so used to seeing you every day,”

Carmilla hummed, biting her lip a little. “The table will be rather quiet without your ranting and rambling,” She said, her lips pulling into a smirk.

“Hey!” Laura gasped, lightly shoving Carmilla’s arm. 

Carmilla let her, and chuckled. “Well, it will be.” She said with an innocent shrug. “But I’ll miss it,” She added, her voice growing quiet again. “and I’ll miss you.” 

\-------

The next morning when Carmilla stood in Ravenclaw tower, watching the Hogwarts Express chug further and further along the track and into the distance, she felt like part of her had left the castle. She sighed and looked down at the copy of The Fellowship of the Ring she held in her left hand, resigning to the fact that yeah, part of her had. 

\-------

Laura hadn’t been home for three hours before she pulled out her quill and parchment and settled down at the coffee table to write Carmilla a letter. Her father was currently chopping wood out back while dinner was in the oven (despite being a terrible handyman, Laura’s father was actually a rather good cook) so she finally had a moment to herself after catching up with her dad on the way back from King’s Cross and getting settled back at home. 

Tibbs was currently curled up beside her on the floor, and Frodo was asleep on one of the wooden beams overhead as Laura began to write. She didn’t have too much to say yet since she’d seen Carmilla that morning, but she wanted to send something. She thought for a moment before starting to scribble away. 

Laura finished signing the letter a few minutes later and tucked it into an envelope along with a few polaroids she’d taken around the house, and one of her and Tibbs, and then sealed it with wax and an ‘H’ seal that had belonged to her mother. “Frodo!” She called, looking up at her owl.

Frodo ruffled his feathers, ignoring her.

“ _Frodo,_ ” Laura said a little more sternly, though a smile quirked the corner of her lips. He could be so stubborn sometimes. “don’t you want to go see Carmilla?”

At that, the little owl turned and flew off the beam, landing on the coffee table with a few clicks of his talons.

“I swear, you like her more than me now,” Laura grumbled under her breath as she attached the letter to Frodo’s leg. She held out her hand and he deftly hoped on holding on as Laura carried him over the window and opened it. “make sure she gives you some treats, okay?” 

Frodo gave a small hoot and then flew out the window.

“Writing to someone already?” 

Laura turned around to find her father standing by the back door, knocking snow off his boots and brushing bits of wood from his hands. “Yeah,” She nodded. “Carmilla stayed at school for Christmas because she doesn’t like going home,” 

“She doesn’t get along with her family?” Her dad asked, his brows knitted together.

“No. She loves her sister, but her mom and her brother are kind of raging...bad people,” Laura said, dropping onto the couch.

He nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment. “She must be special if you’re writing to her already,” He said, his expression lightening again after a moment. 

Laura blushed a little and nodded. “Yeah, she is,”

\-------

Carmilla looked up from her book when she heard a tapping noise coming from the window beside her bed. She hastily set her book down and rolled out of bed, unable to contain a small smile when she saw that it was Laura’s tiny little owl. She flipped the latch open and Frodo hopped inside, hooting quietly. 

“That was quick,” She murmured, leaning over to untie the letter from Frodo’s leg. Despite her words though, she couldn’t help the excited flutter in her chest at receiving a letter so soon from Laura.

The Ravenclaw pulled out some owl treats from her night stand (she’d bought a bag after Laura said she could use Frodo to send letters too) and fed him a few and let him take a drink of her pumpkin juice before sitting down on her bed to read the letter. 

_Dear Carm,  
It feels weird being home. I’ve missed dad so much, and Tibbs, but now things just feel flip-flopped. I don’t think I’ve ever missed school so much, or actually, the people at school. I know I saw you this morning but dinner’s in the oven and it feels weird to not be eating with you and everyone else. It’s so quiet here. _

_I hope you’ve had a good day, I know you’ve probably either been sleeping or reading in the Library. Did you finish Fellowship yet? I noticed that you didn’t have much more to go this morning at breakfast. I have some more muggle books here that I can bring when school starts again, if you want. Just let me know what you’re in the mood for and I’ll pack them :)_

_Dad’s coming back inside so I have to go. I’ll write again soon!_

_Miss you!  
Laura_

Carmilla smiled softly as she ran her thumb over a little smudge of ink before setting down the parchment and picking up the photos. She breathed out a laugh as she shuffled through them, Laura’s face, along with Tibbs, both standing in what looked like an incredibly cozy home, staring back at her through the shiny paper. She set them down after a moment, and fished out some parchment and a quill from her bag--which was stashed under her bed--and began writing once she was situated back in bed.

Almost an hour later, Carmilla nudged Frodo awake, finished letter in hand. She tied it to his leg carefully, and fed him a few more owl treats. 

“Be careful, okay? Laura would never forgive me if you got hurt flying back from me,” She murmured, patting him on the head with her index finger. 

He hooted in what seemed to be understanding, and hopped onto Carmilla’s arm. She opened the window, held her arm out, and watched him fly away back to Laura. Behind her, Carmilla heard blankets shuffle.

“Writing to your girlfriend, Karnstein?” Said a teasing, though not exactly malicious voice.

Carmilla turned her head and sent the fourth year girl an icy glare. “Shut it, Kaur,” She growled, and then turned back to the window. “She’s not my girlfriend,” She said quietly, letting out a sigh as she leaned against the wall.

\-------

Laura was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a tapping at her window. She cracked an eye open, and then shot out of bed when her brain caught up to what was going on, hurrying over to the window to let Frodo in. The little owl hopped over to his perch, shaking off a bit of snow as he went, and then held his leg out for Laura once he was settled. 

Laura carefully took the letter from him and filled his water dish with water from a bottle that sat on her dresser, and then hopped into bed, her stomach and chest fluttering in excitement. She hadn’t expected Carmilla to write back the until next day, but then again, Carmilla was a night owl. Laura carefully unrolled the parchment and cuddled into her covers as she read the letter by the light of the lamp on her nightstand. 

_Cupcake,  
It’s been rather quiet here as well, and it does feel odd without you at meals. I’ve forgotten how utterly annoying it is to listen to everyone else natter on forever. Hell, I’d take the puppy and the ginger twins’ antics over this. It is weird though, eating without you. I finished Fellowship tonight at dinner, and I’m a bit into The Two Towers now, so today’s been alright. Just too quiet. I used to like the quiet. _

_How has your day been? I hope my idiot brother didn’t bother you on the train. If he did, I’ll hex him. And you’re right, I did sleep for a while. You know me so well, cupcake ;) And if you insist on bringing some books back, I wouldn’t say no to The Silmarillion if you have it. I saw it listed in the back of the Fellowship and I’m curious._

_Frodo has been sleeping for a bit, but I have a feeling he may want to go home soon. Don’t worry, I gave him some owl treats and pumpkin juice when he showed up._

_Yours,  
Carmilla_

_P.S. I can see that Tibbs loves being held that way, sweetheart. And I suppose I miss you too._

Laura grinned as she finished reading the letter, her heart swelling, yet also squeezing at the same time. She missed Carmilla more than she initially thought. Dinner with her father was nice, and being home was great, but there was a significant piece missing that she couldn’t ignore. A piece that was still at Hogwarts.

Laura sighed and tucked the letter under her pillow, and then shoved her face into the yellow fabric after shutting her lamp off.

\-------

_Dear Carm,  
So you miss me, huh? I didn’t know your broody self had it in you. Also thanks for feeding Frodo, he was in a good mood when he came home. I think he missed you too ;) And did you just admit to missing Kirsch, LaF and Perry?_

_I do have the Silmarillion, I’ll make sure to put it in my bag when I’m done writing this along with a couple other book I found that I think you might like. It’s good I left Return of the King with you too, I have a feeling you’ll finish the trilogy before I get back, haha._

_My day was alright yesterday, I mostly just settled back in at home and unpacked my stuff. Today dad and I are going to get our tree! There’s a wizard-run tree farm not far from here that we used to go to with mom. They sort of became friends with the owners so even though dad’s a muggle, they still let us come by for a tree every year. We’re going to decorate it tonight after dinner._

_Are there any other Ravenclaw staying at school? It seemed like there were more people on the train home than usual._

_I have to go, dad’s warming up the car to go get the tree._

_Say hi to Hagrid for me!  
Laura_

_P.S. Tibbs always looks like that. He’s kind of like you, eternally grumpy but secretly mushy._

_\-------_

_Sweetheart,_

_I resent that, I am not secretly mushy. Or mushy in any way, for that matter. And I don’t understand why he might like me, considering I’m a giant black cat and all. Also I did not admit to missing them, I simply said that they’re marginally less annoying than the people who stayed behind. There’s only two other Ravenclaws here besides me. Kaur and Abramovitz, since their families don’t celebrate Christmas. It’s been blissfully quiet in the dormitory. Good for reading._

_You go to a farm for your tree? Mother would always get some ludicrously large tree delivered and then enchant it so the needles wouldn’t fall off, and then make the house elves decorate it. I don’t really know why, to be honest. Possibly to keep up appearances, I suppose, in case she has guests. She’s not really one for the holidays. The tree always did look nice though. Sometimes I’d sneak out of my room at night and help the house elves with the ornaments. Send me a picture of your tree maybe?_

_I look forward to those books, I’m halfway through The Two Towers._

_Yours,  
Carmilla _

_\-------_

_Dear Carm,_

_Sorry I didn’t write for a few days, dad and I went to visit his family and they’re muggles so I couldn’t bring Frodo. They don’t know I’m a witch, so. They think I go to a boarding school in Ireland._

_Also you just asked for a picture of my christmas tree, you are so a mush. (There’s one in the envelope.) It’s a big douglas fir, and dad had to trim off the top a little so it would fit. I honestly don’t think Frodo cares that you’re a big cat. He gets along with Tibbs just fine, and he’s probably focusing more on the fact that you give him treats. I’m sure you’re loving the quiet, and not having to escape down to the library to be get some reading in._

_Your mother doesn’t like anything, does she? That sounds so sad. You’ll have to come to my house around Christmas sometime. We don’t have house elves but I promise you we love Christmas! Our house looks like the decoration boxes exploded all over. It’s really pretty. And cozy._

_Your Christmas present will be coming in the post any day now!_

_Yours,  
Laura_

\-------

The two exchanged letters all throughout the break, both of their hearts tugging almost painfully whenever they received a letter from the other. 

Carmilla didn’t like the distance at all, and part of her was already dreading the summer holiday more than usual, because if three weeks seemed torturous, she didn’t know what she was going to do for three _months._ She missed Laura’s babbling at the table and she missed seeing Laura’s cheerful smile in the halls. She just missed _her_.

She groaned into her pillow one night, realizing that she was totally and utterly sunk for this girl.

\-------

Laura didn’t like the distance either. She missed Carmilla terribly, far more than she thought she did at the beginning of the holiday, which was saying something. Even her dad noticed. 

“What’s the matter, kiddo?” he asked over breakfast one morning towards the end of the holidays.

“Huh?” Laura asked, looking up from her eggs.

“You’ve seemed more down than usual after Christmas,” he commented, and then took a bite of his toast. 

Laura shrugged and bit her lip, pushing her eggs around. “I just miss Carm,”

“You like her, huh?” He asked with a little smile. 

Laura nodded, blush creeping up her cheeks. She shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth to save herself from having to talk for a moment.

“Does she like you?” 

Laura shrugged a little. “I don’t know,” She said quietly, avoiding his eyes as she reached for her mug of cocoa.

“Well, if she’s writing you this much, I’d say she does,” He said knowingly with a smile. 

\-------

_Dear Carm,  
I’m so excited to come back to school tomorrow! It’s been great being home but I’ve missed everything so much, and I miss you a lot. And the others. I can’t wait to see everyone. You better meet me by the door so I can hug you when I get back._

_I hope you liked your christmas present, dad and I went to Diagon Alley for the Chrisms market, and I saw it there and thought you’d like it. And thank you so much for your gift! I love the poster--it’s already tacked up in my room. And I may have nearly finished the sweets you sent too._

_I have to go finish packing, but I can’t wait to see you tomorrow! If you could, just tell Frodo to go to the owlry, I don’t want him getting too tired. And he doesn’t like the train ride so much._

_Yours,  
Laura_


End file.
